A  Girl  of  Virginia 


«'  He  had  stepped  from  his  own  room  far  up  the  corridor. 


A  Girl  of  Virginia 


BY 


LUCY   M.  THRUSTON 

Author  of  "Mistress  Brent" 


With  a  Frontispiece  by  Ch.  Grunwald 


Boston 
Little,  Brown,  and  Company 


Copyright,  1902, 
BY  LITTLB,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 

A  U  r  if  kit  r curved 


I.  J.  PABXKIIL  *  Co.,  BOSTON,  0.  a.  A. 


To 

GOVERNOR  MONTAGUE,  OF  VIRGINIA 

A  former  Student  of  the  Univenity 


2138618 


A  Girl  of  Virginia 

i 

GOOD    morning!"     The    voice    was 
cheery,   insistent.      It  brought   the 
young   girl  on  the  porch  above  to 
the  white  wooden  rail  about  its  edge. 

"  Good  morning !  "  she  called  back  lightly. 

"  Beautiful  day  !  "  persisted  the  young  man 
saying  inanely  the  first  words  he  could  think 
of  for  the  sole  purpose  of  keeping  her  there 
in  sight. 

"  Lovely  !  "  cried  the  girl  enthusiastically, 
leaning  a  little  further  over  the  rail.  A  vine, 
which  had  climbed  the  round  pillar  and 
twined  its  tendrils  about  the  porch's  edge, 
set  waving  by  the  slight  motion,  sent  a 
shower  of  scarlet  leaves  about  the  young 
man  below ;  one  fluttered  upon  his  breast, 
he  caught  it  and  held  it  over  his  heart  as  if 
ft  were  a  message  from  her  to  him ;  and  then 
he  fastened  it  in  his  button-hole. 
»  i 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

The  young  woman  laughed  carelessly  as 
he  did  so;  she  was  too  used  to  students  to 
exaggerate  the  meaning  of  their  words  or 
deeds,  and  there  was  no  answering  flash  in 
her  gray  eyes  as  she  looked  down  on  him. 

"  Don't  you  think  it  too  fine  to  stay 
indoors  ? " 

"  I  'm  not  in,"  answered  the  girl  turning 
her  head  to  look  up  at  the  blue  arch  of  the 
sky  overhead. 

"  Oh,  well  "  —  the  young  fellow  bit  his 
lip,  and  flushed  hotly,  —  "you  know  it's  — 
Come,  take  a  walk  across  the  quadrangle," 
he  added  boldly.  "  There  's  no  one  around." 

Frances  leaned  further  for  a  survey  of 
campus  and  corridor.  "  All  right !  "  she  cried, 
and  he  could  hear  her  footsteps  as  she  ran 
down  the  polished  stair  in  the  big  old  house. 
When  she  opened  the  great  hall  door  she 
was  charmingly  demure.  "  Glad  to  see  you 
Mr.  Lawson ! "  she  exclaimed  mischievously 
to  the  young  man,  who  stood  hat  in  hand  by 
the  wide  step. 

"  Delighted,  I  'm  sure  !  "  he  flashed  back, 
holding  the  hand  she  extended  as  long  as  he 

2 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

dared,  —  so  long  that  the  young  woman  had 
drawn  herself  up  quite  straight  and  was  look- 
ing gravely  along  the  corridor  when  he 
released  it. 

"  You  have  n't  mailed  your  letter  !  "  she 
said  looking  at  the  missive  he  still  held. 

"  Oh  !  and  I  came  —  " 

"  There  's  the  box,  don't  forget  it ! " 

44  Which  way  are  you  going  ?  " 

44  Up  to  the  Rotunda,  of  course." 

44  See  how  it  commands  everything  else," 
said  Frances,  pausing  at  the  sunken,  well- 
worn  steps  in  the  terraced  corridor  to  look 
about  her.  The  morning  shadows  of  the 
maples  on  the  quadrangle  stretched  to  the 
brick  pavement  at  their  feet,  scarlet  and 
yellow  leaves,  blown  across  the  green  grass, 
rustled  about  them  ;  the  picturesque  buildings 
on  the  other  side  the  campus  loomed  in  deep 
shadowings,  for  the  sun  was  yet  behind  them. 
A  late  student  slammed  his  door  and  went 
hurrying  down  the  corridor,  his  footsteps 
echoing  along  the  way. 

44  It  is  beautiful !  "  said  Frances  softly,  as 
she  went  up  the  few  steps. 

3 


A    GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

"  Beautiful,  yes,  and  you  don't  appreciate 
it  half  as  much  —  " 

"  Appreciate  it !  " 

"  Don't  you  hear  the  men  raving  over  it 
everywhere  ?  Those  from  a  good  long  dis- 
tance especially — Oregon,  for  instance,  that 's 
my  state  you  know  ;  but  you  Virginians  —  " 

"  Are  not  given  to  boasting ! "  said  the 
girl  proudly. 

"  There  you  are !  You  are  " —  "  a  queer 
lot,"  he  was  about  to  say,  but  remembered 
himself  in  time.  "You  are  —  "he  blun- 
dered ;  "  one  scarce  knows  how  to  take 
you." 

"  Don't  take  us !"  said  the  girl  quietly. 

"  Now,  Miss  Holloway,"  deprecated  the 
young  man, "  you  see,  the  things  other  people 
think  you  would  be  proudest  of,  you  don't 
care  for  at  all,  and  the  things  other  people 
don't  care  for  —  " 

"  Perhaps  there  are  some  people  who  don't 
talk  about  the  things  they  care  for  most. 
Perhaps,"  she  went  on,  her  flushing  cheek 
and  darkening  eye  belying  her  light  tone, 
"  that 's  a  secret  you  have  n't  found  out,  and 

4 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

it  may  be  the  reason  you  don't  know  how  to 
take  us,"  she  repeated. 

"I  'm  not  going  to  quarrel  about  it  a  morn- 
ing like  this,"  declared  the  young  man  as 
they  went  up  the  wide  steps  to  the  Rotunda 
and  along  the  marble  floor  of  the  east  wing 
which  roofed  over  the  rooms  devoted  to  the 
learning  of  law. 

"  No,  nothing  is  worth  it,"  answered  the 
girl  as  she  leaned  against  the  balustrade  at 
the  edge  and  looked  off  towards  the  moun- 
tains, and  they  both  were  silent. 

It  was  a  scene  the  young  man  had  not  yet 
gotten  used  to,  nor  the  girl  either,  though 
she  was  born  in  its  sight.  Beyond  the 
stretch  of  the  outer  grounds  of  the  Univer- 
sity, beyond  the  far-reaching  roofs  and  spires 
of  Charlottesville  and  the  narrow  valley  of 
the  Rapidan,  rose,  high  and  bold,  the  last 
spur  of  the  Ragged  Mountains.  The  blue 
haze  veiled  it  even  at  this  early  hour;  the 
frost  clothing  much  of  it  showed  all  colors 
save  those  of  sombre  hue;  and,  set  on  its 
crown,  just  where  it  began  to  dip  downwards, 
shone  the  whiteness  of  Monticello. 

5 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  He  was  a  great  man !  "  said  the  young 
man  presently. 

The  girl  nodded.  No  one  ever  sat  thus, 
the  buildings  of  the  University  stretching  at 
their  feet,  Monticello  gleaming  on  its  moun- 
tain crest  and  asked  the  name  of  the  man 
they  lauded. 

By  and  by  she  asked  a  question.  "  For 
what  is  Jefferson  noted  ?  " 

"  For  being  the  founder  of  the  demo- 
cratic —  " 

"  I  thought  so ! "  indignantly. 

"  Indeed !  Oh  !  for  founding  the  Univer 
sity  of  Virginia." 

"You  know  your  lesson  quite  well,"  with  a 
little  tinge  of  sarcasm  ;  "  if  you  stay  here  long 
enough  you  '11  find  he  did  a  great  many  other 
things.  Ah  I  he  knew  the  beautiful.  Look  ! 
were  there  ever  any  buildings  more  in  har- 
mony, more  exquisite  in  design,  more  fitted 
for  living  —  Pshaw !  "  she  broke  off  petu- 
lantly at  the  young  man's  laugh,  "  you  Ve 
made  me  boast !  You  Ve  seen  Monticello  ?  " 
she  asked  a  little  haughtily,  as  she  straight- 
ened from  her  leaning  position. 

6 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Of  course." 

The  girl's  eyes  darkened  as  she  stood 
looking  down  the  campus  from  her  point 
of  vantage,  and  though  she  was  too  proud 
to  speak  again  of  its  beauty — for  it  was 
her  home  —  the  young  man's  glances  fol- 
lowed hers  and  he  noted  it  all ;  the  inner 
quadrangle  framed  in  its  buildings  of  quaint 
architecture,  the  velvet  green  of  the  campus, 
set  with  maples,  and  dipping  thrice  and 
then  deeply  toward  the  gleaming  buildings 
at  the  end ;  the  long  stretch  of  corridors 
and  white  pillars,  the  professors'  houses 
rising  two-storied  above  the  students'  homes : 
and  about  these,  outside,  the  wide  grounds, 
the  embowering  trees,  yellow  and  russet 
and  red ;  rows  of  cottages  showing  their 
tops  here  and  there ;  and  far  off,  rimming  it 
all,  the  misty,  hazy  mountain  tops. 

"  I  'm  going  into  the  library,"  announced 
Frances,  all  the  banter  gone  from  her 
voice. 

"  Have  you  been  to  breakfast  ? "  in  aston- 
ishment. 

"  Have  n't  you  ?  Oh !  you  are  lazy !  You 
7 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

must  go  at  once.  Mrs.  Lancey  won't  save 
it  for  you." 

"Yes  she  will!"  He  followed  her  into 
the  fairy  white  interior  of  the  Rotunda, 
with  its  great  pillars  bearing  above  their 
Corinthian  pilasters  the  carved  circle  on 
which  were  written  the  names  of  the  giants 
of  the  book  world. 

He  had  some  faint  desire  to  see  before 
which  of  the  cases  she  would  pause.  He 
was  proud  of  his  knowledge  of  his  fellow 
beings,  but  this  young  woman  puzzled  him. 
It  was  a  pleasure  to  his  beauty-loving  eyes 
to  gaze  on  her  —  tall,  slender,  but  well  set 
up,  frank-eyed,  clear-skinned  with  an  air  of 
utter  independence ;  the  things  he  had  heard 
her  say  and  seen  her  do  kept  her  from  any 
place  in  his  category. 

The  long  serge  gown  rustling  softly  on 
the  marble  pavement,  she  went  straight  to 
the  books  she  wanted.  It  was  late,  and 
she  wished  to  avoid  the  stream  of  students 
that  would  soon  be  setting  roomwards 
and  hall  wards. 

She  took  down  the  volumes  instantly— 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

Fiske's  "  Old  Virginia  and  her  Neighbors," 
and  Byrd's  "  History  of  the  Dividing  Line." 
If  Lawson  was  astonished  she  gave  him 
no  chance  to  express  it. 

"  You  must  hurry  to  breakfast,"  she  in- 
sisted as  they  went  out. 

The  young  man  looked  down  at  the 
sunlit  quadrangle.  "  Won't  you  go  for  a 
drive  about  ten  ? "  he  asked  abruptly. 

44 1  'm  going." 

He  caught  his  breath,  but  before  he  could 
answer  — 

"  Susan  wants  some  chickens.  I  promised 
her  I  'd  get  them.  You  are  not  going 
out?"  severely. 

"  It 's  such  a  temptation  I  " 

"Young  men  who  come  all  the  way  from 
Oregon  come  to  study." 

He  strove  for  answer,  but  the  young 
woman's  nod  was  positive.  It  sent  him  to 
the  mess  hall,  while  she  hurried  along  the 
corridor,  hurried  to  avoid  the  crowd  that 
would  soon  be  abroad.  So  she  had  been 
trained,  and  such  was  second  nature.  She 
was  not  afraid  of  any  student  or  of  all  of 

9 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

them.  She  had  had  delightful  friends  among 
them.  But  she  was  not  a  students'  belle; 
her  dear  father's  abhorrence  of  such  had 
kept  her  unscathed. 

She  lived  among  them,  but  the  traditions 
of  her  household  kept  her  apart.  She  was 
motherless,  but  her  mother's  influence  had 
set  her  feet  in  the  path  of  freedom  and  her 
father  saw  to  it  that  they  kept  their  way. 
In  all  the  gay  students'  life  that  surged 
about  her  she  was  somehow  untouched. 
She  was  keenly  alive  to  its  phases,  to  all  the 
life  as  a  whole,  but  not  to  any  unit  forming 
it.  She  saw  the  belles  of  the  season  come 
and  go  at  Christmas,  at  Easter,  or  the  Finals, 
without  the  least  desire  to  outshine  them, 
or  shine  with  them ;  yet  it  would  have  been 
easy  enough  had  she  wished  it.  Had  she 
social  aspirations  she  would  find  many  ma- 
trons in  the  professors'  homes  to  chaperon 
her ;  had  she  been  sentimental  she  could 
have  made  many  a  bosom  friend  in  the 
young  girls  of  the  town ;  had  she  been 
trained  otherwise,  her  record  from  her  first 
long  skirt  might  have  been  one  of  reckless 

10 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

flirtations  —  for  there  is  no  limit  to  a  stu- 
dent's daring  —  but  as  it  was,  she  lived 
among  them  quite  simply. 

She  ordered  her  father's  house ;  she  read, 
few  knew  how  deeply ;  she  rode,  she  drove, 
and  went  her  own  way  happily. 

One  lesson  she  had  at  heart.  She  took 
the  young  men  about  her  without  an  atom 
of  seriousness.  It  was  this  which  nettled 
Frank  Lawson. 

His  attentions  had  been  taken  quite 
seriously  usually,  too  seriously  once,  he 
might  have  remembered.  It  aroused  his  in- 
sistence ;  it  sent  him  loitering  by  the  gate 
to  the  grounds  when  Frances  came  driving 
down  the  ribbony  road  winding  outwards. 

"  I  think  you  might  take  me,"  he  declared, 
as  she  drove  slowly  by. 

"Jump  in!"  Frances  pulled  the  horse 
around  and  left  the  wheels  towards  him 
hospitably  opened. 

Lawson  thought  of  the  beauty  he  had 
driven  the  afternoon  before,  of  the  roses 
on  her  breast  for  which  she  had  thanked 
him  so  graciously,  of  the  shining  skins  of 

ii 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

his  horses  and  the  glittering  wheels  of  his 
carriage,  and  he  set  his  teeth;  but  he 
climbed  up  into  the  trap  and  sat  down  by 
Frances'  side. 

She  did  not  offer  him  the  reins,  and  he 
hated  being  driven  by  a  woman. 

"  You  know  most  of  the  roads  about 
here  ? " 

The  young  man  assented. 

"  Out  towards  Monticello  and  down  be- 
yond the  University  and  Park  Street;  but 
you  don't  know  this." 

Frances  had  turned  towards  town,  and  was 
driving  smartly  past  Chancellor's  and  An- 
derson's, bookstore  and  drug  store  and 
loitering  grounds  of  the  students,  though 
the  porches  were  empty  now,  along  the 
long  street,  across  the  high  bridge  spanning 
the  narrow  valley  through  which  the  South- 
ern railroad  swept  into  the  town,  on  down  a 
steep  hill;  and  then  she  pulled  sharply  to 
the  left,  down  a  rough  road  past  negro 
cabins,  another  sharp  hill,  across  a  clear 
mountain  stream,  and  they  were  in  the 
country. 

12 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  You  Ve  never  been  this  way  before," 
repeated  Frances  as  she  began  to  point  out 
the  features  of  the  country.  She  spoke  of 
house  and  cabin  and  mill ;  but  Lawson's 
eyes  were  turned  towards  the  misty  moun- 
tains. The  keen  air  blew  in  his  face,  the 
frosty  touch  sent  his  pulses  tingling :  the 
smell  of  green  grass  and  falling  leaves  and 
fresh  earth  was  abroad,  and  over  there,  to 
right  to  left,  swam  the  mountain-tops  in  pur- 
ple mists.  Each  hill  they  topped  showed 
vistas  of  hill  and  valley  and  far-reaching 
crest. 

The  horse  went  at  a  good  pace ;  his  driver 
was  the  most  companionable  of  drivers; 
Lawson  was  absurdly  happy. 

"  What  s  that  little  blue  flower?  "  he  asked, 
pointing  to  a  starry  bloom,  daisy-shaped,  blos- 
soming on  a  weed-like  stem. 

"  That 's  another  of  the  beauties  for  which 
we  thank  Jefferson,  that  and  the  Scotch 
broom  in  the  woods ;  you  saw  it  ? " 

41  But  where  does  this  come  from  ?  " 

"  Don't  ask  me !  Scotland,  also,  perhaps ; 
here  we  are !  "  She  pulled  up  sharply  before 

13 


A    GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

a  cabin  by  the  road,  and,  before  he  could  take 
the  reins  she  threw  down,  sprang  out. 

Lawson  sat  feeling  like  a  chagrined  school- 
boy. It  was  one  of  the  small  accomplish- 
ments of  which  he  was  proud,  to  lift  a  woman 
from  carriage  or  saddle.  He  had  strong 
muscles  well  trained,  and  he  had  a  fashion  of 
putting  his  hands  at  the  woman's  waist  and 
giving  her  a  lift,  quick,  light,  and  sure,  and 
setting  her  on  her  feet  with  a  look  of  pleased 
astonishment  in  her  eyes ;  now  he  sat  hold- 
ing the  reins  like  any  good  boy  and  watching 
the  flutter  of  a  blue  skirt  around  the  clusters 
of  zinnias  and  marigolds  by  the  cabin  corner. 
And  then  he  heard  voices  and  laughter  and 
the  squawks  of  terrified  chickens. 

Frances  was  coming  back,  —  a  colored  wo- 
man, with  a  bunch  of  chickens  in  either 
hand,  walking  by  her  side.  He  listened  to 
the  woman  with  intense  amusement. 

"Why  don't  you  say  thanky?"  she  was 
demanding. 

Frances  only  laughed. 

"  I  done  tole  yuh  how  pretty  yuh  is ;  now 
why  don't  yuh  say  thanky  ?  " 

14 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  She  ought  to,  that  she  ought,"  called 
Lavvson  from  the  trap. 

"  Hi,  honey  ! "  cried  the  delighted  darkey, 
"  is  dat  him  ?  La,  chile,  now  he  suttenly  is 
a  nice  beau !  " 

"  Aunt  Roxie,"  said  Frances  haughtily, 
"  put  the  chickens  in  the  back  of  the  trap. 
You  're  sure  you  've  got  them  tied  all  right  ?  " 

"  'Co'se  I  is  ! " 

Lawson,  delighted  with  Frances'  discom- 
fiture, was  fussing  about,  helping  the  colored 
woman. 

"  Jes  lissen  at  her,  jes  as  mighty  as  you 
please,"  she  muttered  to  him,  and  then  quite 
loudly,  "  some  folks  suttenly  is  hard  to  please  ; 
yuh  praises  dem,  dey  got  nutten  to  say ;  yuh 
praises  de  beau  an'  dey  looks  mad  ! " 

"  Never  mind  !  "  cried  Frances,  "  never 
mind!  I'm  not  going  to  bring  you  any 
tobacco  next  time  I  come ! " 

"  La!  Miss  Frances,  what  mattah  long 
yuh  now  —  yuh  know  —  hyar,  chile,  lemme 
pull  yuh  some  dese  hyar  flowers ;  de  fros' 
done  totch  dem  anyhow!" 

But  Frances  was  not  listening;  she  was  off 
15 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

fast  as  her  horse  would  trot,  the  chickens 
squawking  indignantly,  and  Roxie  by  her 
zinnias  and  marigolds  gazing  in  open-mouthed 
astonishment.  Lawson  was  shaking  with 
laughter.  He  was  even  with  her  he  felt, 
and  perhaps  a  little  ahead.  He  was  sure  he 
was  ahead  when,  just  outside  the  University 
gate,  one  of  the  chickens,  freed  after  much 
straining,  fluttered  under  the  edge  of  Frances' 
skirt  and  shrieked  a  loud  and  triumphant 
squawk.  Frances  sprang  to  her  feet ;  but 
for  Lawson  she  would  have  been  out  and 
under  the  wheel.  There  was  no  laughter 
about  that  young  man  for  one  swift  instant, 
when  he  threw  his  arm  out,  pulled  her  back 
into  the  seat  and  snatched  the  falling  reins. 
The  danger  past,  he  caught  the  offending 
fowl,  fluttering  now  in  the  dash-board,  handed 
it  gravely  to  Frances  and  then,  without  a 
word  of  excuse,  leaned  back  and  laughed 
until  the  tears  were  in  his  eyes. 

As  for  Frances,  she  was  white,  she  was 
cold.  She  had  been  frightened  for  the  first 
time  in  her  life  into  a  silly  deed.  She  was 
mad  through  and  through,  but  it  was  useless. 

16 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

Under  that  ringing  laugh  all  else  gave  way; 
she  must  join  in  it. 

u  Never  mind,"  she  declared,  when  Law- 
son  drew  rein  outside  the  quadrangle  and 
lifted  her  out  impressively.  "  I  shall  have 
that  chicken  for  supper." 

"  I  *m  coming  to  help  eat  him ! " 
"  Come  on  ! "  she  called  gayly,  as  she  dis- 
appeared along  the  walk  to  the  campus. 


17 


II 


FRANCES  lingered  in  the  dining-room 
after  dinner  was  done.  She  pre- 
tended to  be  rearranging  the  flowers 
on  the  table;  in  reality  she  was  thinking 
what  to  say  to  the  little,  spare,  bent  colored 
woman  who  was  busily  clearing  away  the 
dishes. 

"Susan,"  she  began,  "  I  think  I  '11  make  a 
cake  this  afternoon." 

"  Dyar  's  half  a  one  hyar  now,"  grumbled 
Susan  with  a  flash  out  of  her  dark  eyes 
that  were  like  live  coals  in  the  wrinkled 
face. 

"  And  —  ah  —  I  thought  I  'd  make  some 
floating  island." 

"  La !  chile,  what  yah  gwine  pester  roun' 
de  kitchen  for  ter-day  ?  " 

Susan  had  taught  Frances  the  mysteries 
of  cooking  and  was  inordinately  proud  of 
her  pupil's  skill,  but  she  wanted  it  practised 

IS 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

when  it  suited  her;  and  that  afternoon  had 
a  vision  of  rest  and  mending. 

"  And,"  went  on  Frances,  to  finish  now 
that  the  subject  was  broached,  "  I  got  those 
chickens  right  out  the  coop.  Roxie  says 
they  are  nice  and  fat.  That  Dominico  now, 
how  would  it  do  to  have  it  smothered  ? " 

Susan  wheeled  on  her.  "  You 's  gwine 
hab  company  to  suppah  ?  " 

"Y— e—  s!" 

"  An'  yuh  wants  to  hab  smothered  chicken 
an'  floating  island  an'  cake  an'  eberything 
else  1 11  ben'  my  po'  back  to  cook  ?  " 

"Your  smothered  chicken  is  always  so 
good ! "  wheedled  Frances,  who  had  man- 
aged Susan  ever  since  she  could  talk. 

"  Why  don'  yuh  say  so  den,  jes  say  yuh  's 
gwine  hab  company  to  suppah  an'  be  done 
wid  it." 

"  Well,  we  are,"  laughed  Frances,  "  and  I 
want  everything  good,  like  you  always  have 
it." 

"Hm!" 

But  Frances  was  contented  and  was  gone. 

"  Wondah  who  't  is  now  ?  "  Susan's  eyes, 
'9 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

black  and  still  as  ink  pools  in  her  yellow, 
wrinkled  face,  looked  dreamy  as  they  often 
did  when  she  thought  of  Frances.  As  long 
as  she  was  blithe  and  content  so  was  her 
faithful  care-taker,  who  had  nursed  her 
father  when  Susan  was  a  child  of  ten,  and 
he  was  a  bad  infant.  She  had  married  and 
had  her  own  cabin  and  her  own  children 
when  fortune  freed  her.  She  had  seen  her 
"  old  man  "  and  her  children  die,  all  of  them, 
there  in  the  cabin  in  the  mountain-side, 
except  one  boy,  Bill,  and  he  had  gone  off  to 
Baltimore ;  and  she  had  been  glad  in  her 
heart  when  "  Marse  Robert  "  and  his  bright- 
faced  young  wife  had  driven  out  to  her  home 
back  there  and  asked  if  she  would  not  come 
and  live  with  them.  Susan  locked  her  cabin 
door  and  looked  up  and  down  the  view  of 
misty  valley  and  purple  mountains  she  had 
looked  on  for  so  many  years,  and  then  went 
with  them  gladly. 

But  the  cabin  she  kept.     She  would  rent 

it  to  no  one,  she  would  not  sell  it.     It  grew 

weather-beaten   and   rotten ;    the   sage   and 

mint  and  bergamot  were  choked  with  weeds. 

20 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

But  whatever  Susan  had  lived  of  her  own  life 
had  been  lived  there.  She  had  been  happy, 
she  had  been  miserable;  she  had  worked  in 
gladness,  she  had  worked  in  despair.  She 
had  borne  children,  she  had  seen  them  die, 
in  those  four  log  walls. 

The  joy,  the  sorrow  of  that  cabin  were 
hers,  and  she  would  keep  its  memories.  No 
rude  touch  of  alien  life  should  spoil  them. 
She  put  the  big  key  of  the  door  in  her  pocket 
and  went  to  be  part  and  parcel  of  "  Marse 
Robert's  "  life ;  the  flame  of  her  devotion  to 
him  burned  but  brighter  as  she  stood  by  him 
when  his  daughter  was  laid  in  his  arms,  — 
as  she  stood  by  him,  ten  years  after,  when  his 
wife  closed  her  eyes  on  life  and  closed  his 
heart  on  life's  keenest  joys. 

She  had  watched  his  daughter  with  a 
delight  that  knew  no  limit.  Over  most  of 
the  negro  race  beauty  holds  a  potent  sway ; 
and  had  Frances  been  less  fair,  her  saucy 
independence  would  have  been  Susan's 
pride. 

"  Nebbah  see  her  hangin'  'roun'  wid  dem 
stujints,"  said  Susan  to  herself,  as  she  finished 

21 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

her  work  in  the  dining-room,  "  Yuh  sees  'em 
dribin'  through  hyar  sometimes,  de  young 
men  an'  de  ladies,  and  de  ladies  dey's  fair 
sickenin'  er  hangin'  on  to  ebery  word;  an* 
long  'bout  closin'-up  time  "  —  which  was 
Susan's  expression  for  "  Finals  "  —  "den  't  is 
fair  scanderlous.  But  Miss  Frances  —  hm 
—  she  gib  em  jes  as  good  as  dey  sends,  an' 
she  r'ar  her  haid  up  in  de  air,  an'  I  tell  yuh 
now  she's  got  one  pretty  haid  to  r'ar  up, 
sho  's  yuh  born !  " 

"  I 's  gwine  see  who's  comin'  hyardis  eben- 
in',"  she  ruminated.  "  Miss  Frances  she  don' 
nebbah  Vite  much  company  nohow;  'tis 
Marse  Robert  mos'  always.  I 's  gwine  see 
who  dis  is,  I  's  gwine  watch  'em,  sho." 

And  so  she  stood  in  jealous  guard  over  the 
supper  of  the  professor  and  his  daughter  and 
their  guest.  Perhaps  it  was  her  watchful- 
ness, her  half-jealous  disapproval  of  Frank 
Lawson  which  made  things  go  so  badly, 
or  perhaps  the  jar  began  before  that  when 
Frances  in  the  professor's  study  announced 
there  would  be  company  and  she  would  bring 
them  in  there  to  spend  the  evening. 

22 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"Why  don't  you  take  them  in  the  par- 
lor ? "  protested  the  professor. 

"  It 's  cold !  " 

"  You  can  have  a  fire." 

"  Yes,  but  't  would  be  cold  anyhow ;  the  air 
would  feel  as  if  it  had  been  on  storage." 

"  Daughter!" 

"And  it  would  look  so  proper  and  prim, 
there  would  be  no  papers  lying  around,  and 
I  —  I  should  have  to  talk  so  hard,"  she 
wound  up  by  tucking  her  bare  arm  under  the 
professor's;  and  he,  looking  on  her  winsome 
face  and  soft  white  neck  and  shoulders,  for- 
got there  was  a  question  and  only  smiled 
at  her. 

"  You,  know,  father,  you  need  n't  talk ;  you 
can  read  —  " 

"Read!" 

"  Well,"  she  confided,  cuddling  close  to  him, 
"  they  do  talk  such  nonsense,  you  know,  if 
you  've  got  them  off  to  yourself.  I  can't  stand 
it  —  you  need  n't  laugh  !  "  She  rubbed  her 
cheek  along  the  worn  broadcloth  of  his 
coat  —  the  professor  gave  little  heed  to  his 
clothes  —  "  You  would  n't  like  it  either." 

23 


A   GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

The  professor's  laugh  rang  through  the 
house,  but  there  was  a  heartache  under  the 
laughter;  his  little  comrade  daughter  was  a 
woman  grown,  and  these  questions  of  woman- 
hood, slight  as  they  were,  puzzled  him.  And 
so  it  was  the  guest  was  ushered  into  the 
room  on  the  left,  instead  of  the  one  on  the 
right,  which  was  properly  given  over  to 
the  gods  of  company. 

The  guest  gave  a  start  when  he  saw  the 
shimmer  of  Frances'  white  gown  and  the 
gleam  of  her  bare  neck  and  shoulders,  and  he 
looked  quickly  at  her  father,  but  the  pro- 
fessor was  in  ordinary  attire.  The  young 
stranger  had  to  learn  later  that  it  was  merely 
a  local  custom,  and  to  wonder  while  he 
learned  why  the  women  did  not  freeze  going 
so  clad  on  a  winter's  evening  in  the  wide, 
high  ceilinged,  and  cold  brick  houses. 

He  recovered  himself  quickly  and  came 
forward  with  jaunty  assurance,  but  the  pro- 
fessor's careless  hospitality  and  the  demeanor 
of  his  hostess  left  little  of  it  when  the  even- 
ing was  over.  He  felt  his  vaunted  ease  ebb- 
ing from  him  and  he  was  amazed  that  he 
24 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

should  so  feel  it.  Even  at  the  table  he  was 
angrily  critical.  Had  it  been  his  mother's 
board,  the  damask  and  lace  had  been  strewn 
with  flowers,  and  its  tinted  shades  of  candles 
shone  here  and  there,  and  soft  shod  waiters 
come  and  gone,  were  a  guest  bidden  to  a 
meal ;  here  the  electric  light  from  the  single 
shaded  bulb  swinging  overhead  shone  on 
spotless  damask,  where  it  shone  at  all  between 
the  multitudinous  dishes  —  chicken  and  ham, 
rolls  and  biscuit  and  "  batter-bread,"  pickles 
and  preserves,  cake,  and,  with  its  tremulous 
crest  of  white,  floating  island  shining  with  a 
yellow  gleam  in  its  glass  dish  all  before  him 
at  one  serving. 

Still,  the  young  man  being  healthy  and 
blessed  with  hunger,  and  seeing  that  his 
hosts  were  hungry  folk  likewise,  forgot  all 
comparisons  in  the  urging  of  their  hospital- 
ity, and  not  only  followed  their  example,  but 
set  the  pace.  Susan  was  fairly  mollified. 

"  Knows  good  vittels  when  he  sees  'em," 
she  muttered  in  the  recess  of  the  pantry  as 
she  eyed  his  ruddy  cheeks  and  broad  shouU 
ders  through  the  half-opened  door. 

25 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

But,  the  easy  hospitality  of  the  supper  over, 
Lawson's  discomfiture  began  again.  In  the 
morning  he  would  have  sworn  it  was  happi- 
ness to  sit  before  the  glowing  fire  which  the 
chill  evenings  of  the  mountains  demanded, 
and  to  have  Frances  Holloway  so  near  that 
one  could  watch  the  color  flicker  in  her  clear 
cheek  and  catch  each  tone  of  her  round  low 
voice  and  note  the  curve  of  white  shoulders 
and  dimpled  arm. 

Instead  he  felt  himself  growing  steadily 
angry.  Made  conversation  and  an  effort 
which  showed  itself  at  being  entertaining 
and  faintly  expressed  regrets  at  an  early  de- 
parture, were  not  in  his  line.  What  he 
opened  his  room  door  on,  was  more  so. 

"  Hello,  Lawson,  waiting  for  you ! " 

Three  young  men  had  the  light  oak  table 
drawn  up  before  them.  The  books  from  it 
were  flung  on  the  foot  of  the  narrow  white- 
iron  bed :  the  table-cover  hung  on  the  brass 
foot-rod. 

One  of  the  men  leaned  back  in  Lawson's 
Morris  chair,  another  was  seated  a-straddle 
the  only  other  chair  the  room  contained,  his 
26 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

chin  resting  on  the  high  back.  A  third  was 
on  the  trunk  pulled  close  to  the  table. 

"  Room ! "  he  cried,  pointing  to  the  vacant 
half. 

"  Throw  some  coal  on,  Frank,  it 's  chilly. 
By  George,  you  look  cold  yourself." 

"  Cold  !  I  'm  frozen ! "  Lawson's  laugh  was 
not  the  most  pleasant  thing  to  hear. 

"  Where  have  you  been  ?  Land  alive,  look 
at  him !  " 

M  Shut  up ! "  Lawson  flung  his  Prince 
Albert  over  the  books,  crushing  the  chrysan- 
themum he  had  fastened  in  his  button-hole  so 
carefully  earlier  in  the  evening. 

"  Game  ?  "  he  queried. 

"  I  should  say  so,  trot  'em  out !  "  There 
was  a  box  of  cigars  on  the  mantel.  He  lit 
one,  the  rest  were  already  smoking. 

11  Helped  ourselves,  you  seel " 

"  Anything  else  ?  " 

"Listen  to  him!" 

"  That  s  the  stuff,  set  it  here ! "  The  cards 
were  shuffled  away  for  the  bottle  and  glasses. 
The  window  curtains  were  drawn  tightly,  the 
door  was  closed  and  the  portiere  hung  in 

27 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

stiff  folds  across  it ;  the  coal  snapped  in  the 
grate  and  the  young  men  settled  down  for 
the  evening. 

But  Frances  was  not  winding  up  her  own 
affairs  so  nearly  to  her  mind.  The  professor 
had  lain  down  his  book  as  soon  as  the  guest 
departed.  "  Daughter,"  he  began  uneasily, 
"  I  did  n't  know  you  knew  Mr.  Lawson." 

Frances  looked  at  him  in  astonishment. 
"  Why  —  how  —  "  she  stammered. 

"  Somehow,  he  's  different  from  most  of 
the  students  here,"  her  father  went  on,  put- 
ting his  half-framed  opinion  into  words ; 
"  he  's  older  and  he  looks  a  man  of  the  world, 
and  he  's  not  over  studious,"  he  added  a  little 
sarcastically. 

Frances  after  her  first  start  was  listening 
quietly  to  his  broken  speech. 

"  These  older  men,"  the  professor  went  on, 
"  if  they  don't  come  for  good  hard  work,  they 
—  they  are  the  most  troublesome  kind  we  have 
to  deal  with.  The  young  fellows,  now,  they 
have  their  faults,  but  they  are  the  faults  of 
youth.  When  these  older  men  graft  their 
knowledge  of  the  world  to  their  students' 
28 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

folly  —  well — well  —  "  he  was  silent  for  a 
moment. 

Frances,  without  the  slightest  wish  to  de- 
fend the  absent,  sat  silent  likewise. 

"  He's  rich  too;  his  father  owns  immense 
lumber  tracts  in  Oregon,  and  his  people  live 
in  great  style,  and  —  I  scarcely  know  — 
He  's  in  none  of  my  classes.  But,  somehow, 
he  does  n't  seem —  I  wonder  you  invited 
him." 

"  I  did  n't." 

"Didn't!     Why  —  " 

"  Oh,  daddy,  it  sort  of  happened.  I  'm  not 
anxious  to  have  it  happen  any  more." 

"  Well,  neither  am  I,  now  that  I  think  of 
it.  Going  to  bed  ?  " 

"  I  'm  sleepy  as  a  cat  —  no !  as  the  Sleeping 
Beauty !  "  saucily. 

"  I  believe  you  always  are !  "  The  profes- 
sor never  knew  at  what  hour  he  crept  to  bed, 
but  his  daughter's  sleepy-headedness  was  a 
constant  jest.  He  never  failed  to  pause  at 
the  threshold  of  her  door  and  listen  to  the 
deep,  long  breaths  of  her  slumber  and  to 
feel  warmed  to  his  heart's  core  to  know 

29 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

she  was  there,  his  own  daughter,  the  joy 
of  his  life. 

"  Good  night !  "  She  leaned  over  him, 
rumpling  his  dark  hair.  "  Why,  there  's  the 
telephone !  What  can  it  be  so  late  ?  "  She 
was  hurrying  along  the  hall. 

"  Hello ! " 

The  father  turned  to  watch  with  lazy  in- 
terest the  lithe  figure  and  bright  face  and 
bent  head,  as  she  stood,  red  lips  pressed  to- 
gether, the  receiver  at  her  ear. 

"  Ah ! "  she  breathed  ecstatically  into  the 
'phone. 

"  Where  did  you  catch  him  ?  " 

"  To-day ! " 

"  To-morrow ! " 

"Eight  o'clock?" 

"Yes,  indeed!" 

"  If  father  will  let  me,"  with  one  implor- 
ing glance  fatherward. 

"  Yes,  in  a  moment,  wait !  " 

"  Father,  they  are  going  to  have  a  fox- 
hunt to-morrow  —  Orange  Grove,  you  know 
—  meet  at  eight  o'clock.  Mr.  Payne  bought 
the  fox  from  a  colored  boy  to-day,  he  has  it 

30 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

out  at  his  house.  They  are  going  to  turn 
it  loose  on  the  hill.  It 's  a  big  red  fox,  he 
says."  She  slipped  down  on  the  side  of  his 
chair. 

"  Great  Heavens  !  You  don't  want  to  go  ?  " 

Frances  never  answered,  she  only  held  on 
to  him  a  little  tighter. 

"  Frances,  you  know,  since  —  " 

"Starlight  did  behave  dreadfully  that  time," 
she  assented. 

"  Starlight ! " 

"  Suppose  I  ask  Mr.  Payne  to  let  me  have 
a  mount  ?  " 

"  Daughter,"  the  father  was  speaking  quite 
sternly, "  you  know  I  told  you  I  never  wanted 
you  to  ride  behind  the  hounds  again." 

There  was  dead  silence.  Frances  got  to 
her  feet  and  went  over  to  the  mantelpiece, 
eyes  downcast,  red  mouth  down-curved. 

"You  might  drive  out  to  the  meet,"  began 
her  father. 

A  flash  of  her  eyes  answered  him. 

"  I  '11  order  the  trap  right  now! "  she  said 
quickly. 

"  Now,  it 's  late!  "  began  the  professor,  not 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

liking  to  be  taken  so  literally  at  his  word.  "  I 
don't  think  there  is  any  one  at  the  stables." 

u  Mr.  Payne  telephoned  from  there ;  I  told 
him  to  wait  a  moment  I  '11  try  again." 

The  professor  listened  anxiously  to  the 
whir  and  then  to  the  monologue  in  the  hall. 

"Is  Mr.  Carver  there?  Yes!  So  glad!" 
and  then,  after  a  minute's  wait,  "  Can  you 
send  Starlight  and  the  trap  up  by  seven? 
Seven?  Yes!  And  Mr.  Carver,  please  see 
that  he  is  hitched  up  strongly,  will  you  ? " 

She  hung  up  the  receiver.  At  the  foot  of 
the  stairs  she  paused.  "  You  don't  mind  if  I 
drive  along  the  road  and  follow  them  a  little 
if  I  can,  do  you  ?  "  she  asked  laughingly. 

The  professor  ran  his  hand  over  his  per- 
plexed face  and  picked  up  his  book ;  he  had 
no  answer.  At  any  rate  he  felt  he  had  had 
his  say  about  young  Lawson  and  so  he  must 
not  be  too  severe  about  this.  He  little  knew 
he  had  given  that  young  man  the  very  clue 
he  needed :  for  some  hour  of  that  night 
when  the  stars  grew  pale  and  the  gay  party 
in  Lawson's  room  was  breaking  up,  one  of 
the  men  vowed  he  must  have  an  hour's  sleep 
3* 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

to  steady  his  nerves  for  the  fox-hunt  to- 
morrow; it  was  Saturday,  and — 

**  Fox-hunt,"  cried  Lawson. 

"Yes;  want  to  go?  Meet  me  at  the 
stables! "and  it  was  arranged  then  and  there. 

The  fox-hunt  was  sufficient,  but  Lawson's 
last  waking  thoughts  were  the  professor's 
words,  spoken  carelessly  that  evening,  "  Fran- 
ces has  n't  missed  a  fox-hunt  for  years." 


Ill 

AT  seven  o'clock  Frances  was  warming 
her  cold  fingers  over  Susan's  red- 
hot  stove  and  making  some  show 
of  drinking  the  coffee  and  eating  the  toasted 
roll  the  old  darkey,  with  much  grumbling, 
had  gotten  ready. 

"  Don't  see  what  yuh  wants  to  go  trapsin' 
off  for  dis  time  o'  day,  nohow,  ridin'  arter 
dem  hounds.  Dey's  low  down  dogs,  any- 
how ;  always  did  'spise  er  houn'  ebin  ef  't  is 
chasm'  er  fox." 

"  Pshaw,  Susan,  you  know  you  don't  know 
anything  about  it !  "  bantered  Frances. 

"  Don't,  don't  I  ?  Well,  I  'spec  I  knows 
sumpin'  'bout  de  time  dey  brought  you  home 
las'  wintah  laid  out  in  a  drag  wid  de  blood 
all  ober  yo  cloes  an'  dat  cut  right  up  dyar, 
right  on  de  forehead;  little  more  to  de  lef,  an' 
yuh  wou'd  n't  be  standin'  hyar;  an'  yo'  hyar 
jes  does  hide  de  scar  now.  Tell  yuh,  honey," 
she  went  on  solicitously,  coming  up  close  to 
34 


A    GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

Frances,  "young  gals  cyarnt  tek  no  chances 
wid  de  looks  nohow,  dat  's  a  fac' !  Don't  go 
smash  yo'self  up !  " 

"  There  's  the  trap !  "  cried  Frances,  de- 
lighted to  put  an  end  to  such  forebodings. 
"  Good-by  ;  give  father  a  nice  breakfast !  "  and 
she  went  running  out  into  the  hall. 

She  opened  the  heavy  outer  door  softly. 
The  frosty  air  struck  her  like  a  blow.  She 
looked  over  her  shoulder.  Susan  was  not 
watching  her  off.  She  ran  back  and  swooped 
down  on  the  black  skin  rug  at  the  foot  of 
the  polished  stair  and  flung  it  over  her  arm. 

44  Just  like  them  to  put  a  linen  robe  in  the 
trap  this  morning!  I  would  freeze." 

She  closed  the  big  door  quietly.  Her 
father  was  asleep.  Outside,  the  long  corri- 
dor stretched  deserted  and  dusky ;  the.  quad- 
rangle was  in  heavy  shadow ;  the  white  frost 
glittered  on  the  grass,  on  the  edge  of  the 
brick  pavement  to  the  corridor,  and  on  the 
balcony  rails  running  from  house  to  house 
overhead ;  the  scarlet  and  yellow  leaves 
drifted  from  the  maples ;  the  young  girl 
caught  a  whirl  of  them  in  her  long  skirt  and 

35 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

carried  them  rustling  in  her  train  as  she 
hurried  along.  Starlight  was  tied  to  the  rail 
outside  the  quadrangle  and  she  laughed  as 
she  saw  the  linen  robe. 

"  I  'm  ahead  of  them  this  time !  "  she  said 
to  herself  as  she  stood  up  and  folded  the 
great  rug  about  her  and  turned  up  the  fur 
collar  of  her  coat  and  snapped  the  heavy 
driving-gloves  on  her  wrists.  The  moun- 
tain air  was  cold  at  that  hour,  the  tingle  of  it 
was  in  Starlight's  blood  as  well  as  in  his 
driver's.  He  gave  a  few  friskings  of  balanc- 
ing on  his  hind  legs  and  pawing  with  the 
others  wildly  in  air  before  he  settled  down 
to  business.  Frances,  turning  her  head  for 
fear  Susan  would  see,  had  one  swift  gleam 
of  the  old  darkey's  wrinkled,  anxious  face  at 
an  upstairs  window,  watching  her  off,  after 
all.  She  had  only  a  glimpse,  Starlight,  his 
head  tucked  down  far  as  his  rein  allowed, 
was  tearing  down  the  drive. 

She  took  the  short  cut  this  time;  down 
the  steep  hill  beneath  the  lower  quadrangle 
where  the  buildings  towered  straight  over- 
head like  a  sheer  precipice  crowned  with 
36 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

white,  and  flecked  with  scarlet  where  the  ivy 
crept;  out  by  the  curving  road  from  whence 
she  glimpsed  the  far-off  crests  of  the  Ragged 
Mountains  showing  the  morning  light  upon 
their  tawny  sides;  through  the  town,  for  a 
short  distance,  and  then  sharply  off  to  a 
country  road. 

The  trap  bumped  and  jostled.  Sparks  flew 
from  Starlight's  heels  when  they  pounded 
the  rough  rocks  ;  sparks  flew  from  the  wheels 
as  they  rolled  over  rock  and  hard  red  clay. 
Down  in  the  valley,  where  the  mist  still  clung 
like  a  veil  above  the  clear  brown  stream,  the 
little  plank  bridge  rattled  loudly  as  they  flew 
over;  and  now,  as  they  breasted  the  long 
high  hill  beyond,  the  frosty  air  echoed  with 
the  clear  mellow  music  of  a  horn  wound 
lustily  and  with  the  deep  impatient  bayings 
of  the  hounds.  Frances  leaned  over  the 
dashboard  and  shook  the  reins  impatiently. 

"  Get  up,  Starlight !  "  she  cried. 

Again   the    horn  wound   its   call  —  clear, 

shrill,  the  soul  note  of  the  frosty  morning. 

Frances  turned  her  head;  behind  her  were 

horsemen  clattering  down  the  way;  on  the 

37 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

road  which  met  hers  at  the  hill-top  she 
could  hear  the  sharp  sounds  of  beating 
hoofs.  The  sun  was  rolling  up  the  gray 
clouds  on  the  horizon's  edge,  and  the  blue 
vault  overhead,  with  slow  reluctance,  was 
throwing  off  the  soft  veil  of  fleecy  clouds; 
the  gray  of  the  early  autumn  morning  was 
changing  to  opalescent  hues  above  the 
mountain  tops. 

The  horsemen  behind  were  closer,  were 
abreast  of  her ;  she  turned  to  see  Lawson 
on  one  side,  his  fellow-student  on  the  other. 

"  Going  to  ride  ?  "  Lawson  called,  with  a 
mischievous  glance  at  the  heavy  trap. 

Frances  shook  her  head,  outwardly  she 
was  gay  enough,  inwardly  she  was  fuming. 

Lawson's  mount  was  irreproachable,  so 
were  his  clothes. 

"  Heard  we  went  fox-hunting  up  here  be- 
fore he  came,"  accused  Frances  mentally ; 
"  got  them  all  ready  for  the  occasion." 

But  in  truth   Lawson  was  not  conscious 

at  all.     He  had  lost  his  head,  as  every  one 

else  was  doing,  at  the  clattering  hoof-beats 

and    the    insistent    clarion-callings    of    the 

38 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

horn  and  the  wild,  impatient  hayings  of  the 
hounds. 

On  the  plateau  cresting  the  hill-top,  the 
whole  scene  burst  upon  his  view;  roads 
from  many  directions  met  and  intersected 
beneath  the  oaks,  on  all  of  them  hunters 
were  hurrying  —  women,  men,  dogs.  Be- 
yond showed  the  white  fa9ade  of  Orange 
Grove,  the  fence  before  the  lawn  lined  with 
carriages. 

Frances  was  earlier  than  she  thought. 
She  turned  in  the  road  behind  the  master 
of  the  hounds,  who,  grown  too  stout  for 
riding,  had  a  nag  and  a  buggy  could  race 
on  any  mountain-road.  He  leaned  out  and 
called  back  to  her. 

"What  are  you  driving  for? " 
M  Father  would  n't  let  me  ride  !  " 
"  Well,    you    can    trot    behind    me,"    he 
laughed. 

As  they  drove  past  the  front  of  the  house, 
the  big  gate  beyond  the  stable-yard  was  flung 
open  and  the  whole  train,  horsemen,  car- 
riages, dogs,  swept  out  on  the  open  rolling 
hillside  beyond. 

39 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

The  master  of  the  hounds  drew  off  to  the 
left. 

"  Leave  a  space  there !  Clear  the  way  there ! 
That 's  where  the  fox  will  be  started ! " 

The  crowd  followed  them  to  the  field  side. 

Lawson  rode  up  to  the  trap.  "  What 
are  they  going  to  do?"  he  asked  in  be- 
wilderment. 

Frances  looked  at  him  uncomprehend- 
ingly.  She  had  been  calling  gay  badinage 
to  one  and  another  of  those  about  her. 

"  Where  are  they  going  to  start  the  fox  ? 
Don't  you  let  the  dogs  — " 

"  Oh  ! "  with  a  long  intonation  of  compre- 
hension, "  why,  we  Ve  got  the  fox  with  us ; 
first  catch  your  fox,  you  know  —  " 

"Who  — where?" 

"Why,  Mr.  Payne  has  him.  Every  boy 
in  the  county  knows  he  will  pay  a  big  price 
for  a  fox.  They  have  their  traps  out  and 
when  they  catch  one  they  bring  it  in  to  him, 
and  then  —  "a  comprehensive  wave  of  her 
hand  finished  the  sentence. 

"The  dogs — "  began  Lawson,  still  un- 
enlightened. 

40 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

11  Oh  they  put  the  dogs  up  in  the  stables, 
don't  you  see  ?  Watch  them  ! "  she  turned  in 
the  trap  seat  and  Lawson  wheeled  his  horse. 

A  boy  stood  guard  at  the  stable  door. 
One  by  one  their  masters  were  coaxing 
and  coercing  the  dogs  inside.  Their  calls 
echoed  all  over  the  field.  "  Here,  Dixie ! " 
"  Here,  Duke ! "  and  now  and  then  an  im- 
patient master  wound  his  horn  to  call  his 
dogs  to  his  feet,  whereat  every  dog  inside 
the  big  echoing  stable  went  fairly  mad  with 
barking. 

"H-e-r-e,  M-u-s-i-c!"  "  H-e-r-e,  S-a-1!" 
Two  frisky  dogs  were  careering  down  the 
hillside,  their  masters  in  wild  pursuit. 

"There  they  go,  the  two  worst  dogs  in 
the  county ! "  cried  Frances  impatiently. 

"And  the  two  best  hunters,  once  they 
are  started!"  declared  Mr.  Payne. 

Lawson,  tired  of  the  dogs'  antics,  turned 
his  attention  to  the  scene  about  him.  The 
hill  rolled  from  where  they  waited  down 
to  a  wide  stream  at  its  foot.  It  was  waste 
land,  and  the  long  grasses  were  deeply  green 
or  purple  with  seed-pods  or  browned  with 

41 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

sering  weeds;  down  by  the  stream  was  a 
tangle,  scarlet  and  yellow  leaved,  and  gray 
and  purple-stemmed,  a  tangle  of  sumach  and 
blackberry  and  bramble;  and  beyond,  on 
the  climbing  land,  was  the  great  forest  where 
the  pine  showed  vivid  green  and  the  chest- 
nut flared  like  gold  in  the  sunshine  gilding 
the  hillside  and  pricking  out  all  its  colorings 
—  the  oaks'  persistent  russet,  the  changing 
hues  of  the  tangled  undergrowth. 

About  him  were  riders  of  every  descrip- 
tion ;  smart  vehicles  rilled  with  bright-faced 
women,  the  farmer  in  top-boots  astride  his 
nag,  the  Englishman  from  his  fancy  stock 
farm  in  the  country  hard  by  on  his  bobtailed 
horse  and  wearing  the  toggery  of  his  irre- 
proachable hunting  outfit,  women  in  jackets 
or  long  skirts  on  skittish-looking  steeds, 
and  women  in  tailor-made  habits  exact  in  set 
and  fit,  with  stiff  derbies  on  their  smooth 
hair  and  heavy  crops  in  their  hands. 

The    hounds   were   all    prisoned    at   last. 

The  men  who  had  dismounted    hurried    to 

their  horses.     Those  who  had  not,   settled 

themselves   in  their  saddles.     In  the  tense 

43 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

silence  all  the  sounds  of  the  morning  could 
be  heard,  the  deep  breathings  of  the  horses, 
the  creakings  of  the  saddles,  even  the  wind 
stealing  through  the  grasses  and  singing 
in  the  trees  of  the  forest  across  the  way  and 
the  gurgling  of  the  stream  about  the  rocks 
in  its  bed. 

Mr.  Payne  got  nimbly  out  of  his  buggy, 
holding  a  big  bag  of  burlap,  with  a  squirm- 
ing something  inside.  He  walked  to  the 
middle  of  the  cleared  space  and  laid  the 
tied  bag  down  carefully,  the  mouth  turned 
to  the  hillside.  He  bent  over  the  cords. 
There  was  a  sharp,  triumphant  bark. 

"  Good  Lord  !  "  he  groaned  as  he  snatched 
up  the  bag,  tossed  it  over  his  shoulders  and 
ran  for  his  buggy. 

Music  and  Sal  had  nosed  wildly  around  in 
the  stable  until  they  had  found  a  loose  board, 
had  broken  cover,  and  were  baying  their 
triumph  to  the  countryside,  a  dozen  ven- 
turers at  their  heels.  The  boy  who  guarded 
the  door  was  pressing  the  board  against  the 
other  prisoners  and  calling  loudly  for  help. 

"  Oh  ! "  groaned  Frances,  "  they  Ve  got  it 
43 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

all  to  go  over  again !  "  and  she  settled  back 
in  the  trap  in  comic  despair. 

Lawson  by  this  time  was  growing  impa- 
tient. He  was  used  to  seeing  things  differ- 
ently managed.  He  was  concluding  secretly 
that  this  boasted  Virginia  fox-hunting  was 
somewhat  overrated.  Music  and  Sal  still 
bayed  upon  the  hillside. 

Mr.  Payne,  bag  in  hand  came  up  to  the 
trap.  "  Want  to  see  him,"  he  whispered. 

Frances  nodded  delightedly. 

"  He 's  a  beauty  ! "  He  unfastened  the 
bag  carefully  and  peering  down  into  it  she 
saw  first  a  red  fluffy  curl  and  then  two  big 
jewel-bright  eyes,  looking  pathetically  scared. 

"  Ah  !  "  she  said,  pityingly. 

"A  red  fox!"  cried  Mr.  Payne  enthusias- 
tically, "  a  genuine  red  fox !  " 

But  Frances  had  no  bright  answer  ready  ; 
she  was  seeing  just  two  dark  scared  eyes  and 
that  big  fluff  of  a  tail  curled  about  the  pointed 
face.  The  hunt  did  not  seem  as  joyous  as  a 
moment  ago.  She  did  not  notice  that  the 
baying  had  ceased,  that  Mr.  Payne  had  gotten 
again  from  his  buggy  with  his  burden,  and 
44 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

then  her  startled  eyes  saw  a  flash  of  reddish 
yellow  straight  down  the  hillside,  a  flying 
leap  across  the  stream  and  a  swift  taking 
to  cover. 

She  heard  Mr.  Payne's  "  Quick,  pull  in 
behind  me!"  as  he  drove  out  to  the  middle 
of  the  field.  She  saw  the  riders  range  to 
left  to  right,  she  saw  the  fringe  of  carriages 
by  the  fence  corner  where  the  sober  ones 
waited  to  see  the  start ;  but  she,  in  the  trap, 
was  close  behind  the  toughest  rider  in  the 
country.  She  heard  the  snapping  of  the 
watches  in  the  tense  silence  and  the  low 
"  How  many  minutes  ?  " 

"  Seven  ! "  cried  Mr.  Payne,  thrusting  his 
watch  in  his  pocket  and  standing  up  in  his 
buggy.  He  waved  his  arm. 

"  Turn  out  the  hounds !  " 

And  then  Frances  forgot  everything.  She 
was  driving  down  the  roadless  hillside  swift 
as  the  wind.  The  trap  lurched  to  right  to 
left.  The  wind  cut  her  cheek.  Horsemen 
dashed  past.  The  hounds  were  almost 
underfoot,  running  straight;  the  chorus  of 
their  voices  filled  all  the  echoing  valley. 
45 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

The  stream  was  crossed  with  a  swift  splash. 
The  nag  ahead  was  running  straight  up-hill 
and  Starlight  was  following.  The  wheels 
struck  a  rock  and  jolted  her  to  her  knees; 
she  slid  back  on  the  seat  again.  The  riders 
were  in  the  woods  now,  but  their  course  lay 
straight  as  the  road  ran.  Fences  and  woods 
and  fields  of  stacked  corn  and  wayside  cabins 
slid  past,  but  they  kept  the  pace. 

Then  Starlight  went  more  slowly,  the 
heavy  trap  was  telling  on  him ;  the  gray  nag 
and  her  driver  were  nearly  out  of  sight,  the 
driver  waving  an  impatient  hand  at  the  loi- 
terer as  he  sped  around  the  last  turning. 
Worse  too,  the  baying  was  growing  less  and 
less  distinct ;  she  urged  Starlight  on.  He 
gave  a  burst  of  speed,  the  wheels  went  roll- 
ing over  a  rock,  and  in  a  breath  the  trap  was 
going  down — down  —  and  Frances  rolled 
quite  easily  into  the  dry  ditch. 

For  a  moment  she  lay  still,  dazed.  She 
watched  the  deep,  intense,  blue  of  the  sky 
overhead  and  the  screen  of  oak  branches 
against  it  and  the  buzzards  floating  lazily 
high  up  in  ether.  She  stretched  her  limbs  and 
46 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

found  them  unhurt,  and  then  she  turned  her 
head  on  her  arm.  "  Father  will  never  let  me 
go  again ! "  she  moaned  She  got  to  her 
feet.  "  I  wonder  what  is  the  matter,  anyway ! " 
she  muttered ;  but  the  trouble  was  easy 
enough  to  see.  The  violent  wrench  had 
turned  the  wheel  inside  out  and  broken  every 
spoke  off  short  at  the  hub. 

Starlight,  head  turned,  was  looking  behind 
him  reproachfully. 

"  Turn  your  head,  you  old  goose  ;  it  is  n't 
my  fault  either!"  she  vowed  to  the  woods 
and  the  fallen  leaves  and  the  empty  road. 
"  That  man  at  the  stables  has  n't  been  wash- 
ing the  wheels  as  he  should ;  he  's  let  them 
get  too  dry  !  " 

But  it  was  useless  to  patch  up  any  such 
excuse  as  this  even  to  herself ;  she  knew  quite 
well  it  was  her  own  reckless  driving  that  did 
it  and  she  knew  there  was  a  scene  with  her 
father  ahead  ;  but  she  set  her  lips  firmly  and 
turned  to  the  work  in  hand.  She  got  the 
trap  as  best  she  could  out  of  the  road,  she 
unharnessed  Starlight  and  flung  the  black 
rug  upon  his  back.  "  I  suppose  I  will  have 
47 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

to  ride  you  home  so  —  My  soul ! "  She 
jumped  a  foot.  A  little  creature  running 
swiftly  down  the  fence  rails,  sprang  to  the 
ground  just  ahead  of  her  and  flashed  into 
the  woods. 

It  was  a  full  second  before  she  knew  what 
it  meant.  Then  she  heard  the  baying  of 
the  dogs. 

The  fox,  close  cornered,  had  taken  to  the 
fence  rails  to  throw  the  dogs  off  its  scent  and 
then,  seeing  her,  he  had  leaped  across  the 
road.  She  sprang  to  the  fence ;  far  over  in 
the  field  beyond  the  dogs  were  running  aim- 
lessly about.  She  climbed  up,  standing 
sharply  silhouetted  on  the  high  fence  of 
chestnut  rails,  and  waved  her  hand  franti- 
cally. Some  one  saw  her,  understood,  came 
pounding  that  way,  others  at  his  heels,  calling 
the  dogs  sharply. 

Frances  sprang  on  Starlight 's  back  and 
went  crashing  through  the  woods.  A  dog 
sped  by  her,  another.  She  heard  a  rider 
close  behind,  but  she  was  still  ahead  ;  and 
then  she  and  the  dogs  pulled  up  short  before 
a  narrow  stream  and  a  wall  of  tangled  vine- 
48 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

clad  rocks  on  the  other  side.  They  had  run 
the  fox  to  earth,  but  he  was  safe.  Even  then 
she  was  glad. 

The  dogs  were  baying  like  mad  about  her, 
Starlight  was  in  a  lather  of  foam  and  breath- 
ing heavily,  the  loosened  tendrils  of  her  hair 
whipped  against  her  scarlet  cheek,  her  eyes 
were  gleams  of  fire. 

11  First,  first!  "  she  cried,  as  the  rider  she 
had  heard  broke  through  the  woods. 

It  was  Lawson. 


IV 


LAWSON  rode  with  Frances  home. 
The  whole  field  followed.  Never 
had  he  seen  a  madder  frolic.  For 
many  a  beast  and  many  a  rider  crowding 
the  country  road,  the  noon  sun  shining  down 
on  them  hotly,  he  had  learned  a  wholesome 
respect.  Some  stiff  jumping  and  hot  riding 
he  had  seen  on  those  rough  mountain  fields, 
and  he  was  inordinately  proud  of  himself  for 
so  holding  his  own  and  proud  of  the  spirit 
of  the  girl  by  whose  side  he  rode. 

They  went  straight  to  the  stables.  Mr. 
Carver  stood  speechless  at  the  remnant  of 
the  turnout  he  had  sent  to  the  professor's 
home  early  in  the  morning. 

"  Mr.  Carver,"  announced  Frances  coolly, 
as  she  slipped  from  Starlight's  back,  "  the 
trap  is  up  the  road,  just  this  side  of  the  fork. 
I  wish  you  would  send  for  it." 

"  What's  the  matter?" 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

44  One  wheel  missing,  that 's  all,"  as  if  that 
were  a  slight  affair.  "  And  Mr.  Carver," 
coaxingly,  "just  have  it  fixed  as  soon  as  you 
can,  and  don't  say  too  much  about  it.  It's 
not  a  bad  break,  just  one  wheel !  " 

"  Bless  my  soul ! "  Mr.  Carver,  with  an 
innate  love  of  beauty,  gazed  admiringly  at 
flushed  cheeks  and  sparkling  eyes,  "  Of 
course,  of  course !  Come  into  the  office ;  let 
me  brush  your  dress  for  you,  it  will  never  do 
to  go  home  that  way."  The  cloth  skirt  was 
covered  with  long  black  hairs  from  the  rug. 

"  Starlight  run  away  ?  "  he  asked,  as  they 
stood  in  the  little  office,  while  he  was  busily 
whisking  her  skirt. 

"Oh,  no!"  Frances  was  looking  through 
the  open  door  at  Lawson  as  he  went  down 
the  stable  aisle,  his  horse's  bridle  across  his 
arm.  He  was  walking  with  quick,  confident 
step,  shoulders  well  back,  head  carried  high. 
She  watched  him  out  of  sight. 

"  How  did  it  happen  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Carver. 

Frances  told  it  as  briefly  as  she  could, 
winding  up  with  her  triumphant  boast,  "  But 
I  was  first  at  the  finish." 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Good  Lord !  "  laughed  her  delighted  lis- 
tener. "  What  will  your  father  say  ?  " 

Frances  looked  around  at  the  open  littered 
desk,  the  ink-crusted  pen  and  splashed  blot- 
ter and  loose  papers,  at  the  thin  oak  parti- 
tion of  the  walls  covered  with  calendars  and 
sporting  prints.  She  was  sobered.  "  I  don't 
know,"  she  said  suddenly ;  "  I  am  going  to 
see.  Good-by,  thank  you !  " 

She  hurried  out,  she  had  just  missed 
her  car.  She  waited  at  the  corner  impa- 
tiently. It  was  long  past  the  noon,  the 
long  string  of  carriages  which  had  filled 
the  street  at  an  earlier  hour  was  gone, 
the  shops  up  and  down  looked  deserted, 
some  belated  driver  drove  briskly  past,  an 
empty  buggy  or  two  waited  here  and  there  ; 
the  autumn  sun  blazed  on  houses  and 
pavement 

"  Were  you  going  to  leave  me  ?  "  The 
tone  was  distinctly  resentful. 

"Why  —  "  It  nearly  slipped  her  lips  that, 
having  started  alone,  she  expected  to  return 
alone ;  and  though  she  caught  the  words  be- 
fore their  utterance,  the  look  of  her  thought 

52 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

showed  so  plainly  on  her  face  that  the  young 
man  read  it  easily  enough. 

"  We  are  at  least  going  the  same  way,"  he 
said  stiffly. 

"  Yes,"  said  Frances  weakly,  making  for 
the  car  which  was  at  last  in  sight. 

He  assisted  her  in  and  seated  himself  by 
her  side;  and  though  the  car  was  deserted 
save  for  motorman  and  conductor,  he  found 
he  had  nothing  to  say,  nor  had  she  either. 

They  rode  silently  up  the  street,  over  the 
high  bridge  spanning  the  railroad,  between 
the  twin  guardians  of  the  University's  ap- 
proach —  Chancellor's  and  Anderson's  —  out 
to  the  University  gates.  But  it  was  not  in 
Lawson  to  be  silent,  a  winsome  young  wo- 
man by  his  side,  along  any  such  road  as  the 
white,  winding  way  under  the  scarlet  maples 
and  russet  oaks,  through  the  grounds  to  her 
father's  door. 

"  What  do  you  do  on  Sunday  ?  "  he  began 
tentatively. 

"Sunday!  That's  the  busiest  day  in  the 
week.  We  go  to  Sunday  school,  church  — 
that's  in  the  morning;  school  again  in  the 

53 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

afternoon  at  the  mission ;  then  we  go  for  a 
walk,  father  and  I." 

"  You  never  go  driving  Sunday  ?  " 

"  Driving !  that 's  one  thing  father  is  em- 
phatic about ;  he  will  never  allow  Starlight 
out  of  the  stables  on  Sunday." 

Lawson  set  his  teeth.  He  had  no  thought 
of  Starlight  when  he  spoke  of  driving  next 
day,  and  was  half  angered  that  she  was  so 
unconscious  of  his  meaning. 

"  And  in  the  evening  ? "  he  asked,  for  the 
sake  of  saying  something. 

"  We  go  to  church  again." 

He  saw  plainly  there  was  not  a  moment 
for  him  unless  it  was  made,  and  that  the 
young  woman  had  no  thought  of  making  it. 

"  Then  I  shall  not  see  you  for  a  day  or 
two."  Glimpses  about  quadrangle  or  door- 
way he  counted  as  nothing.  "  Good-by  1"  He 
held  out  his  hand  with  elaborate  courtesy. 

Frances  laid  her  own,  heavily  gloved  in 
his  for  an  instant  and  looked  him  frankly  in 
the  eyes.  "  Good-by  !  "  she  said.  "  What  a 
ride  it  was,  but  —  "a  little  sigh  was  on  her 
lips  as  she  opened  the  heavy  door. 

54 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

Susan,  watching  for  the  young  woman's 
approach,  keeping  her  dinner  warm  and 
warming  her  own  wrath  as  well,  saw  the 
leave-taking. 

"  Hm !  hm !  "  grunted  the  old  negress, 
"  what  Miss  Frances  doing  comin'  home  dis 
way,  dat  man  'long  her  too  ?  " 

The  Faculty  might  be  cosmopolitan ; 
Susan  was  Virginian  to  the  backbone.  "  An' 
he  a  fur-away-er,"  which  was  Susan's  term  for 
people  from  anywhere  except  her  own  State. 
"  An'  he  a  fur-away-er,"  she  muttered,  as  she 
betook  herself  to  the  kitchen. 

Frances  marched  straight  to  the  study, 
where  the  professor  always  lingered  a  short 
space  after  his  dinner,  and  told  her  tale 
briefly.  She  expected  many  words.  The 
professor,  like  many  another  man  in  an 
emergency,  had  none.  His  daughter  was 
worse  scared  than  if  he  had  stormed.  When 
he  did  speak  she  felt  she  had  no  idea  what 
he  would  say.  Would  he  forbid  her  riding 
altogether  ? 

She  went  to  her  dinner,  but  he  laid  down 
his  book  and  looked  long  at  the  glowing 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

coals,  then  got  up  and  went  his  way.  She 
was  his  motherless  daughter,  sweet,  true, 
beloved.  A  girl  must  have  some  fad,  he  sup- 
posed. Sweethearts,  or  horses  ?  He  chose 
the  latter.  He  never  dreamed  of  both. 


BUT  there  was  a  possibility  of  both. 
There  was  vein  of  sentiment  through 
the  bed-rock  of  Lawson's  worldliness 
which  had  shown  brightly  once  or  twice, 
had  been  broken  off  suddenly,  and  which, 
had  it  been  worked  by  skilful  hands,  would 
have  yielded  rich  returns.  When  he  had 
come  east,  along  with  the  powerful  reasons 
for  his  doing  so  had  flickered  now  and  then 
the  glimmer  of  his  traditions  of  a  Virginia 
girl.  He  thought  in  a  nebulous  fashion  that 
she  should  be  slight,  dark-eyed,  dark-haired, 
fascinating  as  a  woman  only  can  be,  and  flir- 
tatious as  a  kitten.  He  had  met  one  or  two 
of  the  pictured  type.  But  from  the  moment 
when  he  had  stepped  from  his  own  room  far 
up  the  corridor  one  day  and  seen  a  tall, 
supple,  well-built  young  woman  with  clear 
cheek  and  ruffled  hair  and  serene  gray  eyes, 
holding  her  long  white  gown  from  the  worn 
brick-way  and  walking  with  careless  grace 
57 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

towards  him,  he  had  decided  instantly  that 
this  was  the  woman  of  whom  he  had  thought, 
and  had  begun  to  cluster  his  traditions  about 
her.  None  would  fit.  If  there  was  a  grain 
of  coquetry  about  Frances  it  slumbered ;  so 
did  some  other  deeper  feelings.  He  had 
watched,  striven,  for  a  flash  of  her  eyes  or  a 
flush  on  her  cheek;  he  had  seen  it,  but  it 
had  been  careless  companionship  which 
evoked  it.  And  his  thoughts,  striving  to  fit 
her  to  a  place  she  would  not  fill,  clung  about 
her  more  and  more.  There  would  be  no 
hour  for  him  on  Sunday;  it  only  irked  him. 
He  remembered  the  women  he  had  met  who 
were  nearer  the  ideal  of  his  illusions.  He 
sought  them. 

Frances  finding  at  last,  and  most  unex- 
pectedly, a  free  hour,  and  scarce  knowing 
what  to  do  with  it,  wandered  aimlessly  about 
the  house.  It  was  so  much  her  custom  to 
be  abroad  with  her  father  and  watching  the 
sunset  over  the  mountain  tops,  that  now, 
when  he  was  kept  by  an  old  friend,  she  could 
not  content  herself.  She  would  have  her 
walk  alone. 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

The  pageantry  of  the  autumn  days  was 
veiled.  The  wind  was  whistling  about  the 
chimney-tops  and  bending  the  half  bared 
branches  of  maple  and  oak ;  far  away  the 
soft  gray  clouds  closed  about  the  high  moun- 
tain crests,  shutting  the  vision  in  narrow 
horizons.  Many  of  the  students  were  loiter- 
ing about  corridor  or  cottage  as  she  sped 
away  from  all  along  the  road  winding  to  the 
mountain  top  crowned  by  the  observatory. 
Here,  beyond  the  immediate  environments 
of  the  many  buildings,  a  short  road  across 
the  fields  led  to  the  football  grounds,  where 
the  high  fence  and  higher  stand  of  seats 
loomed  weather-beaten,  deserted  ;  there,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  wide  highway,  rolled  the 
golf  links  over  the  hillside,  the  winds  moan- 
ing above  them  fitfully  and  rustling  the  dead 
vines  on  fence  and  roadside,  and  the  scarlet 
fronds  of  sumac,  and  whirling  the  dead  leaves 
about  her  feet  and  tossing  the  oak-branches 
overhead. 

She  was  at  the  edge  of  the  wood  which 
ran  to  the  mountain  top.  A  double  arch  of 
oaks  met  overhead.  Beyond  these,  where 

59 


A   GIRL   OF  VIRGINIA 

the  grove  was  cleared  for  a  space,  was  the 
resting  place  of  the  University's  dead.  Her 
father  went  often  through  the  gates,  but  it 
always  smote  her  like  a  blow,  the  sight  of 
those  grass-grown  swells  and  gleaming 
marbles  and  white  sweet  roses;  and  in  the 
midst  the  great  shaft,  with  many  names  about 
its  base  of  those  who,  when  there  was  need, 
had  marched  from  the  bright  dreams  of  their 
college  life  to  the  grim  deeds  of  war  —  had 
marched,  many  of  them,  to  rest  in  some  ob- 
scure corner  of  their  state  or  of  others,  but 
to  be  remembered  each  one  in  that  list  of 
those  who  had  dared  and  done  and  paid  the 
one  and  everlasting  price  of  their  beliefs. 

Where  the  path  under  the  arching  oaks 
ended,  and  in  sight  of  the  white  palings  and 
clustering  shafts,  Frances  paused.  Just  here 
she  and  her  father  had  stood  on  many  an 
afternoon  while  the  sun,  crimsoning  the  sky 
above  the  mountains,  hung  scarlet  banners 
over  the  valley  dipping  sheer  between  them 
and  the  Ragged  Mountains,  dyeing  in  crim- 
son and  purple  and  clear  green  the  heavens, 
against  which  were  sharply  silhouetted  the 
60 


A    GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

crests,  red  and  rocky,  or  clothed  to  the  top 
with  the  verdure  of  the  pine  or  showing  the 
gorgeous  hues  of  autumn.  Now  the  heavens 
shut  them  in  closely,  even  the  far  brilliant 
forest  showed  cold  against  their  dull  leaden 
grays;  on  the  other  hand,  beyond  the  links 
where  the  land  rolled  and  dipped  and  climbed 
again  upward,  showed  the  chimney-tops  of 
houses,  the  smoke-wreaths  close  about  them 
telling  of  warmth  and  cheer.  It  was  the 
day  and  hour  for  fireside  comfort.  Frances 
turned  homeward.  / 

So  loud  had  been  the  moaning  of  the  wind 
in  leaf  and  tree  that  she  had  heard  no  other 
sound.  Now  as  she  turned  she  saw  a  smart 
buggy  driving  rapidly  towards  her,  almost 
abreast  of  her. 

The  top  was  thrown  back.  A  girl  whom 
she  had  known  as  one  knows  some  neighbors 
all  the  years  of  her  life  was  in  it.  Her  slim 
figure  showed  exquisitely  against  the  lin- 
ings of  the  carriage,  her  rich  furs  framed  a 
face  delicate  and  spirited  as  a  miniature,  her 
wide  hat  and  long  black  plumes  brought  out 
every  shifting  hue  of  her  golden  hair  and 
61 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

rosy  cheeks.  She  was  known  in  Richmond 
and  New  York  as  a  beauty ;  she  was  known 
in  Charlottesville  as  a  "  students'  belle."  -A 
man  like  her  attendant  was  a  godsend  to 
her,  already  wearied,  as  she  was,  of  too  easily 
pleasing.  She  leaned  toward  him  impres- 
sively. It  was  Lawson.  His  face  was  ruddy 
and  his  eyes  alight.  His  bays  were  trotting 
gloriously.  The  girl  he  was  driving  was 
more  than  interesting,  she  was  daring.  He 
looked  deep  into  her  eyes.  The  girl's  bow  to 
some  one  startled  him.  He  turned  to  give 
Frances  an  astonished  glance  as  she  came 
around  the  slight  curve  into  sight.  But  Fran- 
ces had  seen  the  picture  and  its  atmosphere. 
It  was  not  love,  and  that  she  did  not  know, 
but  it  wore  its  guise  charmingly. 

Frances  heard  the  moaning  of  the  winds 
across  the  links  and  it  held  a  deeper  note,  a 
note  of  desolation,  fading  glories,  and  swift- 
coming  night. 

The  library  looked  doubly  cheerful  when 

she    was   within    doors.     The   coals  in    the 

grate  were  glowing  red,  the  heavy  curtains 

of  the  windows  were  partly  drawn  showing 

62 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

but  a  breadth  of  white  lace  between  and 
through  its  film  a  glimpse  of  the  darkening 
quadrangle.  There  was  a  savory  smell  of 
coffee  kitchenward,  as  Susan  came  in. 

"  Yo'  pa  done  sont  a  message,"  she  said, 
"  he  done  'phoned  up  he  gwine  stay  to  de 
hotel  for  suppah."  Susan  had  been  induced 
to  overcome  her  deadly  fear  of  the  telephone 
more  by  her  shame  at  seeing  "  Marse  Robert 
and  Miss  Frances"  exposed  at  any  time  to  a 
danger  she  dared  not  touch  than  by  any 
other  feeling,  and  had  learned  the  mastery 
of  the  machine.  "  Yuh  '11  hab  to  hab  yo' 
suppah  by  yo'sef.  I  'se  fryin'  yuh  some  ham 
now." 

Frances  pulled  her  chair  closer  to  the  fire. 
"All  right,  Susan." 

Susan  lingered.  There  was  a  look  on 
Frances'  face  she  did  not  like  to  see. 
"Yuh  aint  lonesome,  honey?" 

The  sunshine  of  the  girl's  nature  flashed 
at  once  to  the  surface.  "  Not  a  bit !  This 
fire  is  just  glorious ;  it 's  cold  out-of-doors, 
cold  as  Christmas,  and  the  coffee  smells 
delicious,  and  the  ham  —  hurry  up!  I'm  so 

63 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

hungry,  I  '11  be  back  in  the  kitchen  if  you 
don't!" 

Susan,  satisfied,  hurried  off. 

Frances  loosened  her  jacket  and  slipped 
the  hat-pins  out  of  her  hat  and  put  the 
hat  on  her  knee;  the  firelight  shone  on 
the  brown  velvet  of  it  and  on  her  trim 
brown  gown,  and  her  slender  foot  stretched 
out  towards  the  hearth,  and  lighted  up  the 
warm  tints  of  her  scarlet  waist  and  the 
rose  of  her  cheeks  reddened  by  wind  and 
fireshine. 

A  litter  of  papers  and  magazines  was  on 
the  table  behind  her  and  an  electric  globe 
overhead,  but  the  firelight  and  her  thoughts 
were  best  company.  There  was  a  sting  back 
there  in  her  memory  somehow  she  was 
vaguely  conscious  of  and  resentful  of;  she 
was  feeling  for  it  with  senses  unused  to  such 
searching,  and  by  and  by,  being  unsuccessful, 
she  wandered  to  other  thoughts,  which  was 
the  surest  cure  for  the  sting,  had  she  but 
known  it.  She  slipped  her  arms  from  her 
jacket  and  that  slid  to  the  floor,  her  attitude 
relaxed  more  and  more,  she  was  half  dream 
64 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

ing  when  the  sharp  ringing  of  the  bell  and 
Susan's  footsteps  echoing  along  the  polished 
floor  of  the  hall  brought  her  suddenly  to  her 
feet.  Before  she  was  quite  wide  awake  a 
visitor  stood  in  the  library. 

"  I  saw  you  had  an  idle  moment,"  he 
began  in  a  tone  of  intense  amusement 

Frances   looked   at  him    uncomprehend- 
ingly. 

Lawson  pointed  mischievously  to  the  half 
drawn  curtain.  Frances  walked  swiftly  to  it 
and  sent  the  rings  clashing  along  the  pole. 

"  Good !  "  he  cried,  "  if  I  may  stay." 

"  Shut  out  the  wind,  shut  out  the  weather," 
his  heart  was  saying  to  him ;  he  had  for- 
gotten the  rest  of  it,  but  he  knew  the  last 
word  was  perilously  dear  sometimes  — 
"  together." 

u  Together!"  It  was  the  first  time  he  had 
ever  really  felt  the  significance  of  the  word 
with  her.  Even  if  there  were  none  others 
near  she  had  made  him  feel  as  if  there  were 
a  crowd  always.  Now,  the  dusky  firelit 
room,  the  startled  look  on  her  face,  the  half- 
hesitancy  of  her  speech,  he  would  not  miss 
5  65 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

a  tithe  of.  He  stooped  and  picked  up  her 
gloves  and  hat-pins,  and  as  he  handed  them 
to  her  his  hand  shook  a  trifle,  awkwardly, 
and  he  pricked  her. 

"  Oh  dear !  "  she  cried,  pathetically  as  a 
child,  "  it 's  bleeding !  " 

"  Let  me  see ! "  There  was  a  round  red 
drop  of  blood  at  the  ringer's  tip.  "  I  would 
not  have  hurt  you  for  worlds !  How 
stupid  1  Let  me  —  there!"  He  was  wrap- 
ping her  hand  in  his  handkerchief  and 
stanching  the  slight  flow  at  the  dainty  pink 
point  of  her  fingers,  and  blessing  the  pin, 
even  if  it  did  hurt.  How  small  her  hand 
had  seemed,  how  white,  how  warm ;  he  un- 
wrapped the  swathings  and  held  it  palm 
upwards,  looking  solicitously  and  wondering 
inanely  which  finger  was  hurt.  The  pink 
palm  was  unlined  as  a  child's.  Lawson 
eyed  it  swiftly;  he  had  some  idea  of  palm- 
istry. 

"  Shall  I  read  your  future  ? "  he  asked 
gayly  after  one  quick  glance  at  the  mar- 
riage cross  on  the  soft  flesh  under  her  fore- 
finger. 

66 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  Why,  can  you  ?  "  cried  Frances,  flushing 
a  little  at  the  question  and  a  little  that  he 
should  still  be  holding  her  hand. 

"  Oh  yes,  here  —  " 

"Suppah  is  raidy!"  Susan,  coming  quietly 
to  the  door  to  beckon  her  mistress  and  ask 
advice  about  the  serving  of  the  meal,  had 
come  upon  the  tableau.  She  broke  it  up. 

Lawson  moved  toward  the  door  and  Fran- 
ces stood,  uncertainty  on  her  face.  "  You 
have  just  come  —  "  she  began. 

"  I  did  n't  think  it  was  so  late." 

"  You  drove  too  long !  "  she  flashed. 

"  Oh  no,  not  long  after  I  saw  you  !  "  he  was 
quick  to  retort.  "  What  were  you  doing 
without  your  father  ?  " 

"  He  met  an  old  friend—" 

"  Is  he  still  away?" 

"  Yes,  he  's  going  to  stay." 

Lawson  put  his  hand  on  the  door-knob. 
He  saw  he  must  go,  but  Susan,  impatient  at 
even  this  delay  and  so  furious  at  what  her 
eyes  had  seen  that  she  scarce  heeded  what 
she  was  doing  clanged  out  the  supper  bell 
and  then  poked  her  turbaned  head  through 
67 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

the  portiere.  "  Ef  yuh  don't  come  on,  ebery- 
ting  will  be  col' ! "  she  declared. 

Frances,  angered  through  and  through  at 
the  old  woman's  interference,  tilted  her  chin 
high.  "Come  out  and  have  supper  with  me, 
Mr.  Lawson,"  she  said,  "  it 's  lonesome  by 
myself ! " 

"  Fo'  Gawd ! "  muttered  Susan,  knowing 
she  had  overreached  herself  and  brought 
about  worse  than  she  had  tried  to  avert,  "fo' 
Gawd!" 

"  Susan,  put  a  plate  for  Mr.  Lawson ! " 

Susan,  plate  in  hand,  came  slowly  to  the 
table  where  they  waited.  "I  ain't  gwine  put 
it  at  de  foot,  Gawd  knows,"  she  told  herself, 
"  I  'se  gwine  put  it  at  de  side,  de  lef '  side  too, 
an'  I  hopes  to  de  Lawd  he  '11  burn  hisself 
agains'  de  coffee-pot;  it's  good  and  hot,  I 
knows ! " 

Lawson  was  duly  satisfied  where  he  was; 
he  could  watch  her  hands,  shaky  a  little  at 
first,  hovering  over  the  queer-shaped  silver 
pot  of  coffee  and  the  low  wide  cream-jug  and 
open  sugar-bowl,  and  he  listened  delightedly 
to  her  questions  as  to  his  tastes;  he  could 
68 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

enjoy  too,  seeing  the  example  of  his  hostess, 
the  good  food  Susan  had  unwittingly  pre- 
pared him. 

There  was  no  criticism  now  of  house  or 
table.  The  great  high-ceilinged  room  with 
its  heavy  furniture  of  dark  mahogany,  its 
dusky  corners,  and  its  single  light  shining 
above  his  hostess'  head  and  lighting  every 
tint  of  her  loveliness,  seemed  the  perfection 
of  home  atmosphere. 

When  they  went  into  the  hall  and  heard 
the  rain  beating  on  the  corridor  roof,  and 
Frances  opened  the  outer  door  for  one  in- 
stant to  glance  out  on  the  storm-swept  quad- 
rangle, the  gleaming  lights  pricking  the 
darkness  here  and  there,  and  to  speak  un- 
easily of  her  father,  before  she  closed  the 
door  upon  the  storm  and  came  back  to  her 
seat  by  the  library  fire,  he  felt  all  the  happi- 
ness he  had  dreamed  of  that  other  evening 
which  had  turned  out  so  differently. 

The  difference  was  to  affect  other  things, 
also,  for  as  he  rose  to  go  he  said  laughingly, 
14  You  know  I  am  asked  to  go  on  the  eleven  ?  n 

"  No !  "  Football  was  the  only  one  of  the 
69 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

University  sports  for  which  Frances  had 
any  enthusiasm. 

"  Yes,  Marsden's  hurt  is  more  serious  than 
they  thought;  they  want  me  to  take  his  place, 
for  the  time  at  least." 

"  Yes,"  assented  Frances  as  he  paused. 

"  I  used  to  play  at  home  on  the  old  college 
team." 

"  You  will  accept  ?  n 

"  I  think  so ;  it  means  hard  training  and," 
with  a  short  laugh,  "  abstemious  living,  but 
I  think  I  will." 

"  I  am  glad !  "  cried  Frances  impulsively. 
At  the  warmth  of  her  friendliness  the  young 
man's  eyes  spoke  a  warmer  language  yet. 
The  girl's  glances  fell. 

Lawson  made  an  impulsive  step  forward, 
drew  a  long  hard  breath,  his  hands  clenched, 
though  he  did  not  know  it ;  then,  "  Good 
night!"  he  said  quietly, "  and  thank  you  for  a 
very  pleasant  evening." 


70 


VI 

FRANCES,"    the    professor    had   said 
every    Court-day  since    she  was   old 
enough  to  be  out  on  her  own  affairs, 
11  Frances,  this  is  Court-day,"  and  that  warn- 
ing was  sufficient. 

It  meant  that  his  daughter  must  not  be  far 
afield  on  the  country  roads  in  the  morning 
when  men  from  farm  and  mountain-cabin 
and  homes  near  by  and  nooks  far  away  would 
be  riding  by  twos  and  threes  —  a  led  horse, 
perhaps,  by  one,  a  cow  driven  before  another, 
to  be  traded  in  town  —  or  driving  a  wagon- 
load  of  farm  produce,  a  calf  in  the  rear  bleat- 
ing prophecies  of  his  fate;  and  that  she  should 
avoid  the  roads  when  these  same  men  were 
going  home,  some  of  them  the  worse  from 
their  visits  to  the  saloons  dotted  plentifully 
through  the  town,  and  disposed  to  be  quarrel- 
some, and  none  too  ready  to  give  a  woman 
the  right  of  way.  But  most  of  all  it  meant 
that  she  must  avoid  the  congested  streets 

7' 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

about  the  Court-house.  This  was  an  un- 
written law  of  the  town. 

This  morning  he  forgot.  His  mind  was 
still  filled  with  thoughts  of  his  visit  and  his 
friend,  a  man  whose  ways,  unlike  the  pro- 
fessor's, had  led  him  into  many  highways  and 
byways  of  the  world  and  taught  him  strange 
things.  Their  lives  had  not  touched  for 
many  years  and  now  the  point  of  contact 
had  sparkled  with  helpful  brilliancy  for  both. 

Frances,  used  to  being  reminded,  took  no 
thought  for  herself.  She  ordered  up  Star- 
light for  a  morning's  ride  with  some  gay 
badinage  over  the  'phone  as  to  his  condition. 

"  He  's  a  little  nervous  this  morning,"  Mr. 
Carver  called  back.  "Has  n't  gotten  over 
his  run-away." 

"  Run-away  ! "  repeated  Frances  indig- 
nantly, at  her  end  of  the  'phone. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  the  boy  to  rub  him  down 
well  and  bring  him  up.  Don't  ride  him  too 
hard." 

"  Good-by  ! "  called  Frances  shortly,  as  she 
rang  him  off. 

The  town  was  quiet  enough  as  she  rode 
72 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

through  and  turned  out  Park  street.  The 
wide  way  was  drifted  with  wet  leaves ;  under 
the  carpet  of  them  on  lawn  and  yard  the 
grass  showed  vivid  green ;  chrysanthemums 
flaunted  their  colors  in  every  door-yard ;  at 
window  or  porch  the  rider  glimpsed  many  a 
friendly  face  and  bowed  cheerily.  As  the 
houses  grew  more  scattered  the  land  fell 
away  from  the  ridge  over  which  the  road 
wound  showing  sunlit  vistas  of  valley  and 
mountain  to  left  and  to  right,  crest  upon 
crest  towering  away  to  the  sky  line.  The 
coloring  everywhere  was  brilliant  after  the 
storm  of  the  night;  the  clay  of  the  road, 
where  it  climbed  the  mountain-side  far  away, 
showed  deeply  red ;  the  ruffled  pools  under- 
foot mirrored  the  blue  sky;  crows  were 
calling  jubilantly  overhead;  the  wind  blew 
softly  against  Frances'  cheek.  Starlight  and 
his  rider  went  on  fast  and  fleet,  and  farther 
than  his  rider  had  intended. 

They  were  crossing  a  ravine  on  the  high 
bridge  which  spanned  it,  and  Frances  had 
drawn  rein  to  look  with  delight  up  and  down 
at  the  clear  stream  curving  on  its  way  through 

73 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

a  narrow  valley  of  rich  meadow-land,  where 
the  corn  was  stacked  in  sere  wigwams  across 
the  field,  and  to  gaze  down  at  the  wild  gorge 
below,  tree-clad,  with  the  stream  foaming  at 
its  base ;  or  just  across,  where  the  land  dipped 
suddenly  and  a  ruined  cottage,  moss-grown, 
tree-hidden,  clung  to  the  hillside.  She  was 
wondering  whether  she  should  try  the  steep 
hill  beyond,  slippery  from  the  rain,  when  she 
saw  a  man  riding  slowly  down  it,  another 
followed  him,  and  another.  Their  splashed 
top-boots  and  loose-fitting  coats  and  wide 
soft  hats  bespoke  the  mountaineer.  But 
Frances,  remembering  the  level  stretch  of 
road  beyond,  where  Starlight  could  take 
the  top  of  his  speed,  rode  on.  Before  she 
breasted  the  hill  she  met  a  farmer  driving 
his  wagon,  full  to  the  brim  with  yellow  ears 
of  corn,  and  a  man  on  his  sure-footed  mule 
riding  carelessly  by  his  side,  talking  the 
topics  of  the  county.  Then  she  remem- 
bered the  day. 

She  looked  at  her  watch,  —  it  was  after  ten; 
when  she  got  back  the  hubbub  would  be  at 
its  height,  and  her  way,  of  necessity,  lay  by 
74 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

the  Court-house.  She  turned  her  horse's 
head. 

All  the  way  homeward  she  thought  of  her 
adventure  gleefully ;  it  was  no  fault  of  her 
own  she  was  abroad,  and  as  she  must  go 
through  the  throng,  she  was  going  to  see  it 
all.  She  had  always  wished  it  because  it 
was  forbidden,  now  she  would  have  her  wish. 

About  the  Court-house  the  streets  were 
thronged  for  a  square  on  either  side  — horses, 
carriages,  men.  The  autumn  court  was  an 
important  one.  Farmers  were  not  so  pressed, 
there  was  leisure  to  look  outside  of  their  own 
fields ;  men  of  the  town,  of  distant  towns, 
of  farms  far  and  near,  of  mountain  cabins, 
thronged  the  steps  and  the  bit  of  green 
about  the  house  and  the  street,  back  to  the 
small  houses  and  narrow  pavements  built 
about  it  like  a  court  when  the  town  was  a 
village  a  century  and  more  ago. 

They  made  way  for  her  as  she  came  riding 
slowly  through  the  press  and  eyed  her  curi- 
ously, but  Frances,  when  she  should  have 
hurried,  took  her  time.  She  was  exhilarated. 
Here  the  men  had  cleared  a  space  and  a 
75 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

negro  was  trotting  a  horse  up  and  down,  the 
onlookers  noting  his  points  sagely;  there, 
drawn  close  to  the  curb,  were  the  small 
wagons  of  the  negroes  who  were  vending 
things  to  eat  and  to  drink,  queer  and  curious. 
And  there  standing  straight  in  her  wagon 
and  looking  out  eagerly  for  chances  of  trade 
was  Roxie.  She  spied  Frances  through  the 
crowd. 

"Chile,  what  yuh  doin'  hyar?"  she  asked, 
soon  as  Frances  was  abreast  of  her. 

"  Forgot !  I  got  caught ! "  said  Frances,  just 
loud  enough  for  her  to  hear.  Starlight  was 
close  to  the  wagon's  wheel  and  for  the  mo- 
ment they  were  held  in  the  crowd. 

"  Better  go  'long  home !  "  warned  the  old 
darkey. 

"  I  'm  going.  Roxie,  what  have  you  got 
there  ? " 

"  La!  Miss  Frances,  you  don't  want  none. 
Dyar  's  a  watermilyun  dat  's  been  down  in  de 
bottom  o'  de  spring  eber  since  Augus'!  It 's 
red  as  a  rose  an'  I  'se  gwine  sell  it  fur  five 
cents  a  slice;  'twill  fairly  fly  at  dat.  An' 
dyar's  some  'simmon  beer  — " 
76 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Roxie,"  said  Frances,  her  eyes  shining 
with  amusement,  "  you  know  I  want  some 
persimmon  beer." 

"  Miss  Frances,"  replied  the  old  darkey, 
impressively,  "  I  'se  gwine  sabe  yuh  some 
and  bring  it  up  to  yo'  house,  if  yuh  '11  jes'  buy 
me  some  'baccer.  Dyar  's  dead  loads  of  it 
hyar  to-day;  yuh  know  whar  dey  sells  it, 
right  on  de  street  below  dis;  'taint  no  such 
crowd  dyar  as  dyar  is  hyar.  Ole  Ike,  he 
driv  right  befo'  me  terday,  an'  he  had  de 
prettiest  lot,  an'  I  tried  ter  swop  him  fur 
some  all  de  way  in.  'Lowed  he  did  n't  love 
watermilyun,  de  ole  liar,  and  he  nebber  drank 
'simmon  beer —  'cause  he  's  honin'  fur  sump- 
in'  stronger — an'  de  smell  o'  dat  'baccer 
blovvin'  back  to  me  de  whole  way  'long  !  Go 
'long,  chile,  de  way  is  open  clear  to  de  end 
o'  de  square.  Ole  Ike,  he  's  right  'round  de 
corner  dyar." 

Frances,  tingling  with  fun,  rode  on  slowly. 
Around  the  corner,  as  Roxie  said,  the  way 
cleared  and  around  the  corner  from  that  was 
a  scene  at  which  Frances  drew  rein.  Run- 
ning the  length  of  the  square,  wagons  of  all 
77 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

sorts  were  drawn  close  to  the  curb.  They 
were  stored  with  brown  tobacco  leaves,  well- 
cut,  well-dried,  and  now  to  be  sold.  Men  were 
going  from  wagon  to  wagon,  pricing,  sort- 
ing; the  buying  had  hardly  begun.  One 
old  negro,  shabbily  clad,  hobbled  by,  his  face 
shining  with  happiness,  his  arm  rounded 
over  a  big  sheaf  which  meant  comfort  and 
cheer  on  many  a  winter's  morning  and  night 
by  his  cabin  hearth.  On  the  square  beyond 
were  horses  and  cows  for  sale  before  the 
cattle  sheds. 

But  Frances'  eyes  were  diligently  search- 
ing the  square  below  for  old  Ike.  He  was 
not  there.  Ike,  venturing  on  a  little  original 
business,  had  driven  first  to  one  or  two 
houses  of  "de  quality,"  where  he  hoped  to 
make  some  sales.  The  venture  had  pros- 
pered. He  came  driving  back  gleefully,  his 
best  wares  sold,  the  money  in  the  pocket  of 
his  patched  vest.  The  morning  air  was 
chill  to  his  old  bones  and  he  had  wrapped 
himself  up  well  in  his  wife's  best  quilt  when 
he  climbed  into  his  shaky  "jersey"  before 
his  cabin  door  back  on  the  mountain  side ; 
78 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

but  the  sunshine  and  his  success  had  warmed 
him.  He  had  loosened  the  wrappings  of 
the  quilt  about  his  limbs,  though  it  still 
flopped  about  his  shoulders,  pinned  with  his 
wife's  bonnet-pin  under  his  lean  and  bristly 
chin. 

As  he  drove  with  a  showy  spurt  of  speed 
close  by  Frances  the  wind  caught  the  quilt 
end  and  slipped  it  squarely  in  Starlight's 
face.  With  a  snort  Starlight  was  off.  He 
plunged  the  length  of  the  "  jersey "  and 
darted  past  the  other  vehicles  too  swiftly  for 
any  of  the  men  to  act.  Frances  sitting  care- 
lessly was  taken  unawares  and  slid  half  way 
from  the  saddle ;  for  a  blinding  moment  she 
saw  nothing  but  a  fall  which  might  be  fatal 
before  her,  then  by  a  superhuman  effort  she 
regained  her  seat ;  but  her  hands  were  fairly 
nerveless.  Starlight,  head  down,  was  racing 
along  the  street  which  crossed  the  railroad ; 
in  one  bewildering  flash  she  saw  the  running 
people,  the  opened  doors  and  windows,  the 
long  white  guards  across  the  street  and  the 
heavy  freight  train  on  the  far  track  drawn  off 
to  make  way  for  the  western  express. 
79 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

Fear  nerved  her.  She  tugged  at  the  bridle. 
Starlight  gave  no  heed.  She  was  close  upon 
the  guards.  She  felt  a  strong  grasp,  she 
was  pulled  from  her  seat;  for  one  dizzy 
moment  she  knew  nothing.  When  she  was 
again  conscious  she  looked  up  into  an  anx- 
ious face  above  her,  and  looked  on.  In  fear, 
excitement,  anxiety,  all  thought  of  environ- 
ment had  burned  away.  It  was  a  second's 
space  she  looked,  a  breath's  space,  when  the 
soul,  oblivious  of  the  body,  sees  and  seizes 
the  great  things  of  life.  The  face  bending 
over  her  was  fair,  frank,  and  young,  strong 
and  serious,  the  eyes  blue.  —  Then  she  came 
back  to  the  everyday  knowledge  that  she 
was  leaning  on  his  shoulder,  his  arm  holding 
her  close  against  him,  his  face  bent  above 
her;  that  she  was  on  his  horse  before  him, 
that  he  must  have  snatched  her  from  the 
saddle  at  the  last  moment.  She  struggled 
to  sit  upright. 

"You  are  not  hurt?"  he  questioned  anx- 
iously. 

"Starlight?" 

"  I  don't  know."  He  smiled  as  he  looked 
80 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

at  her,  a  little  flash  of  consciousness  showing 
in  his  own  face.  They  were  riding  up  a 
narrow  side  street. 

"  You  see  I  had  to  race  after  you  and  I 
could  n't  pull  up  at  once  though  I  managed 
to  turn  off  up  here.  Wait !  " 

In  some  fashion,  awkward  enough  with 
her  there  on  the  horse  before  him,  he  dis- 
mounted and  held  up  his  hands  to  lift  her 
down.  Frances  allowed  herself  to  be  taken 
down  meekly.  Her  eyes  were  dim  with 
tears  of  mortification.  She  stood  on  the 
sidewalk,  which  was  black  with  cinders  from 
the  ever  passing  trains,  and  saw  the  curious 
faces  at  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  small, 
sooty  houses,  saw  the  crowd  running  up 
from  the  station,  and  hated  the  whole  adven- 
ture to  its  smallest  detail.  But  before  the 
crowd  ran  a  man  with  Starlight  tugging  at 
the  bridle  rein  he  held. 

"  Bring  him  here ! "  Frances  begged  the 
stranger. 

The  young  man  flung  the  rein  of  his  own 
horse    across   a  paling's   point,   knotted    it 
hastily  and  ran  forward. 
6  81 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"  So  !  so ! "  he  cried,  smoothing  Starlight 
down  the  face  and  talking  to  him  softly  as 
he  brought  him  to  his  rider. 

"Give  me  your  hand!"  she  demanded 
quickly. 

"Surely  —  " 

"  Before  they  are  all  here  !  I  'm  not  afraid ! 
Don't  you  see  ?  "  Her  hands  were  on  the 
pommel ;  she  was  in  mad  haste  to  escape  the 
crowd  almost  upon  her. 

The  stranger  knelt,  held  out  his  hand, 
tossed  her  in  the  saddle  and  she  was  off, 
Starlight  trotting  decently  and  quietly,  the 
quivering  of  his  flesh  and  an  indignant  snort 
alone  betraying  his  rashness. 

But  close  behind  her  and  then  abreast  of 
her  rode  her  rescuer. 

11 1  must  see  how  he  goes  at  first,"  he  apolo- 
gized, and  the  mastery  of  his  tone  added  to 
Frances'  discomfiture. 

She  rode  with  crimson  cheeks  and  down- 
cast eyes,  a  square  —  two;  she  could  stand 
it  no  longer;  she  drew  rein  at  the 
corner. 

"  I  thank  you  very  much,"  she  said  as 
82 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

courteously  as  she  could ;  "  I  am  going  this 
way,"  and  she  turned  off. 

She  took  the  quietest  way  home  in  bitter- 
ness of  spirit.  Never  could  there  have 
been  a  worse  moment  for  such  adventure. 
The  affair  would  be  known  from  town  to 
farm,  from  farm  to  mountain  top,  by  sun- 
set. There  was  the  spice  of  danger  in  it  that 
would  insure  its  telling,  and  the  talk  would 
lose  nothing  by  its  many  recitals.  It  would 
be  told  to  the  young  man's  advantage,  too. 
None  of  the  glory  would  redound  to  her. 
There  was  no  excuse  for  her  being  where 
she  had  been,  no  pardon  for  such  an  es- 
capade. It  would  be  made  the  point  even 
for  a  parent's  caution.  The  thought  was 
maddening. 

She  crept  to  her  room,  glad  to  close  the 
home  doors  about  her.  Susan  found  her 
there. 

"  Yo'  pa  done  'phoned  up  dis  bery  min- 
ute he 's  gwine  bring  company  home  ter 
dinnah." 

"  Very  well !  "  said  Frances  spiritlessly. 

"Wants  ter  hab  anything  'ticular?" 
83 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Oh,  whatever  you  want,  Susan  ;  you  know 
as  well  as  I  do." 

"Hm!  "  said  Susan  going  down  the  stair- 
way, "  ain't  no  talk  of  floating  islan'  an'  cake 
now,  but  I'se  gwine  hab  sumpin'  good  all  de 
same.  Marse  Robert  he  laks  good  things 
ter  eat,  ef  he  does  n't  mek  any  fuss.  I'se 
gwine  see  dey  's  dyar  on  de  table  as  long  as 
de  meal  holds  out  in  de  barrel." 

Frances  sat  down  in  her  room.  There 
was  no  fire  there  and  she  was  chilled  and 
miserable.  The  physical  discomfiture  chimed 
with  her  mood  and  she  was  resentful  of  the 
bright  sunshine  that  came  streaming  to  her 
feet.  When  she  got  up  and  took  off  her 
riding  habit,  she  dressed  without  a  thought 
of  the  guest  her  father  was  bringing  to  dine 
with  him.  She  heard  the  opening  of  the 
heavy  front  door,  footsteps  in  the  hall,  and 
her  father's  voice  in  pleased  tones  of  cordial 
hospitality.  She  went  down  to  the  library. 
The  door  was  opened,  but  the  portiere  hung 
in  heavy  folds  across  the  inner  side ;  when 
she  pulled  it  away  she  looked  full  into  the 
face  of  her  hero  of  the  morning,  who  stood 

84 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

in  the  middle  of  the  room,  looking  back  at 
her  with  the  amazement  on  his  face  which 
must  have  shown  on  hers. 

"  Frances,"  the  professor  was  saying,  so 
full  of  his  own  pleasure  he  was  not  noting 
their  embarrassment,  "this  is  Edward  Mon- 
tague. You  've  heard  me  talk  of  Tom  Mon- 
tague, went  to  school  here  when  I  did, 
settled  out  in  Rappahannock;  this  is  his 
son."  He  laid  his  hand  affectionately  on  the 
young  man's  arm.  "  He  has  bought  the  old 
Northrup  place,  you  know ;  I  hope  he  '11  make 
a  good  neighbor.  He  has  made  a  fine  be- 
ginning. Some  girl's  horse  was  running 
away  with  her  in  town  and  he  raced  up 
behind  and  snatched  her  out  of  the  saddle 
just  before  she  got  to  the  railroad  guards; 
funny  he  does  n't  know  the  girl's  name." 

"  I  rode  on  to  the  post-office,"  said  the 
young  man,  looking  at  neither. 

"And  some  one  there  knew  of  the  adven- 
ture. He  was  glad  enough  to  get  away. 
Came  up  to  me  as  soon  as  he  saw  my 
mail,  —  the  names  on  the  envelopes  I 
mean." 

85 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  I  had  intended  visiting  you  to-day,"  but, 
strangely  enough,  the  young  man's  voice  was 
past  courtesy,  it  was  fairly  pleading. 

"  Well,  well,  I  wonder  —  "  the  professor's 
gaze,  comprehensive  at  last,  fell  on  Frances, 
shrinking  back  against  the  portiere. 

"  Frances ! " 

There  was  dead,  unbroken  silence.  In  the 
tense  awkwardness  of  the  moment  the  young 
man,  not  knowing  what  to  say,  was  noting 
shyly  the  curl  of  the  girl's  dark  lashes  against 
her  scarlet  cheek  and  the  droop  of  her  red 
mouth. 

"  Was  it  you?" 

The  girl  raised  her  eyes  and  gave  the  visi- 
tor one  swift  look,  indignant,  imploring  ;  her 
impulse  was  to  run  from  the  room  back  to 
her  own,  but  she  could  not;  she  walked 
quickly  to  the  window  and  half  turned  from 
them  instead. 

"It  was  the  strangest  thing  you  ever  saw," 
began  the  young  man  so  hurriedly,  his  words 
tripped  over  one  another.  "  I  was  just  be- 
hind her.  I  saw  her  riding  down  the  street. 
It  was  a  curious  sight  —  the  farmers,  the 
86 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

negroes  with  their  tobacco  for  sale,  you 
know.  Just  as  she  stopped" —  another 
break  he  felt ;  she  would  think  he  had  been 
watching  her  all  the  time  —  as  he  had  from 
the  moment  he  caught  sight  of  her  across 
the  crowd  at  Roxie 's  wheel.  "Just  as  she 
stopped,  an  old  darkey  rattled  close  by  her ; 
he  was  a  sight ! "  the  young  fellow  laughed 
nervously;  "  he  had  a  quilt  flopping  all  around 
him  and  as  he  passed  the  wind  flapped  it 
squarely  in  her  horse's  face  and  he  was  off, 
I  after  him.  Pluckiest  thing  I  ever  saw,  I 
thought  she  was  gone  down  on  those  cob- 
bles there."  The  professor  made  a  little 
smothered  exclamation.  "  She  was  half  out 
of  the  saddle  but  she  got  back  somehow,  got 
control  of  the  reins,  too.  But  the  horse  was 
headed  for  the  railway.  I  got  up  to  her  just 
in  time. " 

Frances  was  facing  him,  gratitude  in  her 
eyes,  not  for  the  rescue  but  for  the  telling. 

"  Frances  —  Edward  —  "  began  the  profes- 
sor brokenly.  He  covered  his  face  with  his 
hand  for  a  moment  and  then  he  went  up 
close  to  the  young  man  and  spoke  his  grati- 

87 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

tude  in  such  warm  words  as  brought  a  flush 
to  his  guest's  face  and  to  his  daughter's. 

"  Frances,  you  have  thanked  him  ?  " 

Frances  glanced  at  the  young  man  shyly. 
He  smiled  back  at  her  reassuringly. 

"  Of  course !  "  he  said  quickly,  and  for  the 
first  time  she  felt  a  feeling  of  warm  kind- 
liness to  him.  She  had  been  on  the  verge 
of  quite  the  opposite  feeling  before. 

It  was  some  time  after  this  that  the  pro- 
fessor, who  had  been  quiet  and  thoughtful, 
and  limited  his  conversation  largely  to  table 
affairs,  said  suddenly,  as  if  he  had  at  last 
arrived  at  a  conclusion  of  his  thoughts, 
"  Frances,  this  is  the  third  accident  you  have 
had  in  less  than  a  year." 

"  So  it  is  sure  to  be  the  last,  father,"  said 
Frances  gayly  from  the  head  of  the  table. 
She  had  been  growing  steadily  more  cheer- 
ful as  he  went  on  talking  with  young  Mon- 
tague, "Ask  Susan!" 

Susan  was  hurrying  with  delight  about  the 
table.  She  had  known  Edward's  father  and 
his  mother.  He  was  one  of  "  her  folks." 

"  If  a  thing  that  never  happened  before 
88 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

happens  once,  it 's  bound  to  happen  three 
times.     It 's  all  over ;  I  'm  safe !  " 

The  professor  began  some  remonstrance. 
He  had  intended  then  and  there  to  lay  down 
a  severely  strict  law.  Instead,  "  I  think  I  '11 
look  you  up  a  safe  horse,"  he  said  lamely. 

"  Perhaps  Miss  Frances  will  let  me  ride 
with  her  sometimes,"  ventured  young  Mon- 
tague. 

"  Not  to  take  care  of  me,"  said  that  young 
woman  wilfully. 

"  For  the  pleasure  !  " 

"In  that  case,  I  shall  be  glad  to  go,"  se- 
dately, "  but  I  shall  not  wait  for  you." 

"  There  will  be  no  waiting  !  "  They  were 
going  into  the  library  and  he  was  holding  the 
curtain  to  let  her  pass.  Frances  looked  up  at 
him  laughingly,  and  in  that  instant  she  for 
gave  him  for  playing  the  hero's  part. 


VII 

THE  professor  was  deeply  interested 
in  Edward  Montague's  plans ;  well 
as  he  had  known  his  father,  there 
was  much  of  that  father's  later  life  of  which 
he  had  no  tidings.  He  had  to  learn  what 
a  house  full  of  children  was  back  there  in 
the  valley  home,  had  to  learn  how  Edward 
was  compelled  to  give  up  his  hope  of  col- 
lege training  —  and  this  he  learned  between 
the  lines  —  and  how  he  had  resolved  instead 
to  strike  out  for  his  own  fortunes. 

"  I  should  have  gone  back  to  farming 
anyhow,"  the  young  man  answered  to  some 
expression  of  the  professor's,  "  it  is  my  bent, 
you  know,  but  it  needs  brains  and  training 
as  well  as  any  other  profession,"  a  little 
proudly,  for  he  thought  the  professor  would 
challenge  it. 

But    it    was    the    professor's    own    deep 
rooted   belief.      He   listened   delightedly  as 
90 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

his  young  guest  went  on  to  speak  of  the 
farm  he  had  bought  and  what  he  hoped 
to  make  of  it.  The  old  North rup  estate, 
some  three  miles  out  from  Charlottesville, 
was  a  well  known  one  throughout  all  Albe- 
marle.  A  big  brick  house  on  the  sunny 
slope  of  a  mountain  whose  crest  towered 
to  the  sky-line  behind  it,  it  had  held  many 
people,  loved  and  known  in  the  state,  and 
had  been  the  centre  of  a  gay  full  life.  But 
the  old  life  had  drifted  away  from  it;  some 
of  those  who  had  lived  in  the  brick  walls 
slept  in  the  graves  under  the  thick  oaks 
not  far  away  from  the  house ;  the  rest 
were  scattered,  north,  south,  and  west.  The 
place  had  gotten  into  the  hands  of  specula- 
tors. A  northern  farmer,  thinking  to  make 
his  fortune  on  cheap  lands  in  a  sunny  cli- 
mate, had  bought  it,  but  to  face  labor  condi- 
tions of  which  he  was  ignorant  and  to  find 
the  only  hopes  of  the  fortune  he  sought  were 
in  a  country  store.  He  had  nearly  lost  his 
life  fording  one  of  the  mountain  streams, 
between  store  and  farm,  after  a  freshet,  and 
was  desperately  afraid  of  a  second  adven- 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

ture.  He  sold  it  for  nearly  half  its  cost. 
Montague's  investment  had  a  good  begin- 
ning and  a  better  promise. 

The  professor  kept  him  talking  of  it  to 
the  last  moment  he  dared  keep  away  from 
the  lecture  hall.  "  Come  and  see  us,"  he 
urged  when  he  was  at  last  compelled  to 
go.  "  It 's  going  to  be  lonesome  out  there  " 
—  the  estate  was  away  from  the  beaten 
track  —  "come  and  take  dinner  with  us, 
Sunday  ? " 

Edward,  glancing  at  Frances'  bright  face, 
thanked  him  as  warmly  as  he  had  spoken. 
"  I  will  walk  down  as  far  as  the  hall  with 
you,"  he  said.  "  I  have  some  business  in 
town  I  must  attend  to  ; "  and  he  added  shyly, 
"  I  shall  be  glad  if  you  and  Miss  Frances 
will  come  and  see  me  when  I  am  estab- 
lished. Dr.  Randall's  wife  will  come  with 
you,  I  think." 

"That  we  will,"  assured  the  professor 
heartily. 

"  Bachelor's  hall  is  n't  very  attractive," 
the  young  man  went  on  deprecatingly ;  "  the 
house  is  very  bare." 

92 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"Pshaw!  we'll  come  and  help  brighten  it 
up,  won't  we  Frances  ?  " 

"  '  A  house's  best  ornament  is  the  presence 
of  a  friend,'  "  quoted  Edward,  a  glint  of  mis- 
chief in  his  eyes  as  he  went  to  say  good-by. 

The  professor  had  not  been  so  pleased 
in  many  a  day.  The  young  man,  the  son 
of  his  old  friend,  fulfilled  all  his  traditions; 
well-born,  well-bred,  well-read,  with  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  pleasing  personality,  and,  a 
woman  would  have  added,  a  face  none  the 
less  handsome  for  the  look  of  grave  deter- 
mination upon  it.  Then,  too,  the  professor, 
being  a  student  of  the  classics,  was  inter- 
ested in  agriculture  by  way  of  contrast, 
and  was  filled  with  theories  concerning  the 
farming  possibilities  of  his  own  state,  and 
most  particularly  those  of  his  own  county. 
There  was  not  an  experiment  which  had 
been  tried  there  in  the  last  twenty  years 
that  he  had  not  at  his  fingers'  ends:  the 
Englishman  with  his  fancy  breed  of  sheep 
or  cows,  the  stock  farmer  with  his  regis- 
tered horses,  the  man  who  had  turned  his 
fields  into  apple  orchards,  the  man  who  had 
93 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

planted  his  hillsides  with  vineyards,  —  he 
could  talk  of  all  far  more  fluently  than  the 
workers. 

There  was  a  vineyard  on  the  Northrup  place 
famed  as  being  of  the  best.  The  professor 
went  across  the  quadrangle  talking  eagerly 
of  it  and  of  the  merits  of  Concords  and 
Catawbas  and  Isabellas ;  and  he  parted  with 
an  assurance  of  an  early  visit. 

He  went,  and  came  back  more  enthusiastic 
than  ever;  went  again  and  carried  Susan  for 
a  stay  at  her  log  cabin  a  half  mile  down 
the  valley  from  the  main  road. 

Three  or  four  times  a  year  Susan  went 
"  home."  She  would  make  her  way  through 
the  rotting  gate  and  weed-worn  pathway, 
open  the  battered  door  and  window  to  flood 
the  cabin  with  air  and  sunshine,  fling  feather- 
bed and  pillows  and  quilts  to  the  sweetening 
winds ;  would  war  with  dust  within  and 
weeds  without;  and  then,  when  all  was  in 
order  again,  would  sit  in  the  worn  doorway, 
her  hands  folded,  looking  down  the  narrow 
valley  threaded  by  the  mountain  stream  and 
up  to  the  purple  tops  closing  in  the  horizon. 
94 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

Long  thoughts  went  through  her  mind,  too 
narrow  to  be  forgetful,  bitter-sweet  memo- 
ries of  the  childish  feet  that  had  pattered 
about  the  doorway,  of  her  strife,  and  her 
happiness.  When  the  team  to  take  her 
back  was  in  sight  she  would  lock  her  door 
and  go  down  the  pathway  to  the  road, 
her  hand  on  the  key  in  her  pocket.  The 
feeling  of  its  possession  gave  her  strength 
to  lose  her  own  life  in  the  life  of  others. 

But  always  when  she  clambered  into  the 
trap  it  was  with  one  question  on  her  lips. 
"  I  wonder  whar  Bill  is  ? "  Sometimes  she 
added,  "  I  spec  he  's  dead,  I  'se  mightily  feared 
he  is ! "  and  sometimes  "  He  mus'  be  libin* 
somewhars;  if  he  was  dead  I  spec  I  'd  aheard 
it  somehow." 

As  for  Frances,  her  father  found  it  hard  to 
interest  her  in  the  old  Northrup  estate.  She 
had  another  enthusiasm.  The  football  team 
was  in  hard  training.  They  played  every 
afternoon  on  a  little  plateau  between  the 
rolling  hills  opposite  the  terraces  of  the  Ro- 
tunda. The  roadway  winding  some  twenty 
feet  above  the  grounds  between  it  and  the 

95 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Gym  "  was  crowded  on  practice  hour  with 
carriages  and  interested  watchers. 

It  was  then  near  the  close  of  the  short 
afternoon.  The  sunset  lights,  were  the  day 
fair,  would  be  shining  westward;  trailing, 
scarlet,  fleecy  clouds  would  be  floating  over- 
head, clamorous  crows  flocking  homeward. 
One  by  one  the  carriages  of  many  drivers, 
going  one  way  or  another,  but  all  returning 
in  time  to  watch  the  team  work,  would  pull 
in  on  the  road  overlooking  the  grounds  till 
it  was  filled  with  champing  horses  and  grind- 
ing wheels. 

Frances  was  there  always  until  the  men 
went  for  a  last  run  around  the  grounds, 
sprang  up  the  steps,  darted  across  the  road- 
way and  up  to  the  "  Gym."  Then  Starlight 
went  spinning  away  for  a  drive  in  the  fast 
closing  afternoon.  It  was  an  old  habit,  too, 
of  driving  the  horse  to  the  stables  and  walk- 
ing home.  The  tingling  air  made  it  delight- 
ful exercise.  The  streets  were  filled  at  the 
late  afternoon  hour  with  all  the  town,  it 
seemed,  a  long  procession  out  and  in,  — young 
girls  and  older  women  and  men  strolling  out 
96 


A    GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

Universitywards ;  students  in  pairs  and 
groups,  and  crowds  lounging  down  toward 
the  centre  of  the  town,  and  many  a  student 
promenading  with  a  young  woman  beside 
him.  It  was  the  holiday  hour  of  the  town. 

Somehow,  somewhere  in  that  procession 
of  men  and  maids  would  be  one  man  walk- 
ing alone  and  searching  the  crowd  eagerly, 
for  all  his  air  of  careless  assurance,  for  a 
young  woman  who  walked  briskly  with 
shoulders  well  back  and  head  in  air,  whose 
eyes  were  shining  with  health  and  content 
and  whose  lips  were  curving  with  happy 
thoughts,  and  though  his  life  held  bright 
days  in  spite  of  an  old  sorrow  long  past,  and 
though  there  were  bright  days  to  come,  there 
would  never  be  any  again  with  the  intangible 
charm  of  the  chilly  afternoons  faded  well- 
nigh  to  dark,  the  evening  star  shining  clearly 
in  the  pale  green  west,  the  tops  of  the  tall 
trees  rocking  against  the  "  primrose  sky," 
and  those  two  walking  gayly  along  the  paths 
of  the  University  homewards. 

Sometimes  there  was  a  moment's  pause  in 
the  library,  sometimes  an  evening  visit ;  but 
7  97 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

strangely  enough,  Lawson  with  his  hard 
training  had  settled  down  to  hard  study 
likewise,  and  was  giving  an  unexpected  turn 
to  the  Faculty's  thoughts  of  him ;  for  those 
with  whom  he  had  first  come  in  touch  feared 
the  results  of  his  wealth  and  good-natured 
easy  comradeship  and  not  altogether  admir- 
able ways  of  living,  upon  the  younger  men. 

Through  all  his  intercourse  with  Frances 
there  was  the  most  delightful  comradeship, 
the  girl  yielding  unconsciously  to  a  friendli- 
ness from  which  she  had  always  steadily  held 
herself. 

True,  Lawson  was  fairly  irresistible.  The 
strength  of  his  nature  which  had  much 
savagery  under  its  gloss,  the  beauty  of  his 
physique,  showing  better  each  day  of  regular 
hours  and  cleanly  living,  the  indomitableness 
of  his  resolve  which  set  itself  on  winning 
always  the  want  of  the  hour,  were  a  power 
could  scarce  be  turned  aside. 

Fresh    from    the    keen    exercise    and    the 

shower-bath,  smart,  immaculate,  strong  with 

the   impulses  of   an    untrained    nature,   the 

crowd  faded  into  insignificance  when  Frances 

98 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

would  glimpse  him  swinging  down  the 
street. 

He  had  ceased  to  ask  permission  to  turn 
back  with  her ;  it  was  a  matter  of  course. 
Their  talk  usually  was  of  the  lightest. 

11  Had  a  nice  drive  ?  "  he  might  ask. 

Frances  would  plunge  into  account  of 
Starlight's  misdemeanors. 

"  It 's  lovely  walking,"  he  might  say  in- 
anely when  she  had  finished,  looking  down 
at  the  girl's  cheek,  red  like  a  rose  with  a 
clear  spot  of  white  in  the  centre  of  the 
red  — "  the  rose's  heart,"  he  told  himself, 
watching  the  flicker  of  it. 

"  Mr.  Saunders  played  well  to-day  !  "  Fran- 
ces would  say  enthusiastically,  and  they 
would  plunge  at  once  into  a  keen  discussion 
of  every  point  of  the  play,  of  the  game,  of 
the  teams,  and  of  the  match  games  and  of 
the  first  big  one  soon  to  be  played  on  their 
own  grounds. 

Lawson  began  to  have  a  feeling  he  was 
playing  for  more  than  the  victory  of  the  team 
game.  He  grew  more  and  more  anxious 
about  it  each  day,  and  more  and  more  set  in 

99 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

his  resolve  to  win.  Once  only  had  he  played 
a  losing  part  in  life  and  the  thought  of  that 
when  it  touched  him,  filled  him  with  sicken- 
ing revolt. 

"  We  '11  win  !  "  he  declared  one  afternoon, 
after  a  discussion  of  the  other  players. 

"  You  are  sure  ?  " 

"  Quite ! " 

They  were  standing  at  her  door.  The 
quadrangle  was  deep  in  twilight,  the  lights 
pricking  the  dusk  here  and  there ;  some  stu- 
dents were  chaffing  each  other  gayly  far  up 
the  corridor,  a  negro  lad  was  hurrying  with 
a  hod  of  coal  for  a  belated  fire  he  should 
have  started  an  hour  ago. 

Frances  was  leaning  back  against  the  door, 
her  hand  behind  her  on  the  door-knob.  "  It 's 
well  to  feel  confident !"  she  said  lightly,  fight- 
ing against  something  she  heard  in  the  tones 
of  his  voice. 

"  Is  it?  Should  one  always  be  confident?" 
he  asked  eagerly. 

"It's  not  a  safe  rule  always,"  she  fended. 
She  heard  the  little  exclamation  he  made 
under  his  breath.  "  But  it  is  a  help  gener- 

100 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

ally,"  sue  added,  foolishly  striving  to  undo 
the  hurt  she  scarcely  comprehended. 

"  And  there  's  no  rule  for  it,  like  everything 
else,  but  a  blind  follow-your-leader,"  he  said 
bitterly. 

"  If  the  leader  be  wise,"  laughing  nervously. 

There  was  a  second's  silence,  and  in  it 
they  heard  footsteps  hurrying  along  the  cor- 
ridor. The  quadrangle  was  not  a  secluded 
spot  even  at  its  quietest.  Frances  fumbled 
at  the  door-knob. 

"  Let  me  open  it  for  you  I  " 

His  hand  came  upon  hers  in  the  dusk, 
held  it  closely,  tightly.  The  shock  of  the 
joy  of  its  touch,  the  sound  of  her  hurried 
breath  went  to  his  head.  He  followed  her 
into  the  hall  and  shut  the  door  behind  him 
leaning  against  it,  looming  masterfully  against 
its  darkness.  The  light  from  the  globe  over- 
head cast  a  white  circle  on  the  polished  floor; 
they  were  outside  it.  Beyond  the  half-drawn 
portiere  they  glimpsed  the  professor,  back 
towards  them. 

Lawson  dared  say  no  word,  he  only  stood 
a  second,  a  minute,  caressing  her  with  a  long 
101 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

look  from  head  to  foot,  and  with  the  look  of 
loving,  was  mixed  joyous  delighted  triumph ; 
then  he  opened  the  door  softly  and  was  gone 
out  into  the  darkness. 

Frances  drew  a  shivering  sigh,  as  she  went 
slowly  into  the  library.  A  vague  uneasiness 
possessed  her.  She  dreaded  even  the 
thought  of  seeing  him  again.  Next  after- 
noon she  was  off  for  a  hard  ride  the  other 
way  from  the  practice  grounds.  Lawson, 
wandering  aimlessly  about  the  quadrangle  at 
twilight,  saw  her  hurrying  up  the  corridor 
holding  her  habit  tightly  about  her.  He 
hastened  across  to  find  a  closed  door  and 
blank  windows.  Inside,  Frances  was  tele- 
phoning for  a  boy  to  take  Starlight  to  the 
stables  and  then  making  a  gay  pretence  of 
weariness  and  hunger  to  Susan.  So  for  a 
day  or  two. 

When  they  met  again  Lawson  was  icy 
with  anger.  Frances  had  avoided  the  prac- 
tice grounds,  but  the  fascination  of  the 
game  overcame  her.  She  drove  up  at 
last,  and  sat  looking  down  on  the  players 
below. 

1 02 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

Lawson,  for  some  reason,  was  not  one  of 
them.  Frances  did  not  see  him  at  first,  but 
he,  sitting  on  the  last  of  the  steps  sunken  in 
the  terrace,  was  chaffing  the  players  and 
talking  lightly  to  the  men  about  him.  He 
turned  at  the  sound  of  wheels,  and  saw  her, 
as  she  pulled  up,  sharply  silhouetted  against 
the  hill-slope  beyond.  He  was  elaborately 
unconscious  of  her.  By  and  by  the  Beauty 
drove  in  behind  Frances.  Lawson  was  at 
her  side  in  an  instant,  doffing  his  cap  to 
Frances  as  he  passed  her.  She  sat  quite 
still,  disdaining  to  turn  her  head  at  the 
sound  of  the  gay  voices  and  laughter  behind 
her,  and  watched  the  practice  below  without 
seeing  a  point. 

Other  carriages  had  passed  in  before  her 
and  on  the  side ;  she  was  held  prisoner  to  the 
end  of  the  hour.  Then  Lawson,  going  by 
as  she  held  Starlight's  rein  taut  and  looked 
to  left  and  right  for  chance  of  escape,  stopped 
suddenly  at  the  wheel.  He  had  not  intended 
it.  It  was  the  look  on  her  face  impelled  him. 
Had  it  been  either  sorrowful  or  scornful  he 
would  have  read  her  mood  and  passed  her 
103 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

by ;  she  was  neither,  and,  being  puzzled,  he 
paused. 

"Good  play!"  he  began,  feeling  for  an 
opening  to  the  conversation. 

"  Yes ! "  she  assented,  turning  her  head 
impatiently  —  a  carriage  had  just  pulled 
across  the  road,  blocking  her  in. 

"  I  did  n't  see  much  of  it,"  he  blundered. 
There  was  not  a  flicker  of  expression  on  her 
face  to  show  she  saw  it,  only  polite  interest. 

The  carriage  pulled  out  of  the  way.  Fran- 
ces leaned  for  her  whip. 

The  young  man's  haughtiness  broke  in  an 
instant,  "  Take  me  in  with  you ! "  he  pleaded, 
though  his  pleading  startled  himself  as  much 
as  her.  "  It 's  delightful  for  a  drive ;  I  Ve 
been  shut  in  all  day." 

Frances  turned  laughing  eyes  towards  him. 
"Jump  in!"  she  cried. 

And  though  there  were  moments  enough, 
as  they  spun  along,  for  either  protest  or 
pleading,  the  young  man  dared  neither. 


104 


VIII 

FRANCES  had  her  enthusiasms;  so 
had  Edward  Montague,  with  the  sav- 
ing difference  that  hers  were  for  her 
amusement  and  his  were  concerning  his 
life-work.  Still  he  found  time  for  other 
things  also.  He  accepted  the  invitation  to 
dinner  promptly.  The  University  was  by 
no  means  a  byway  homeward,  but  he  found 
many  an  odd  moment  to  spend  there  when 
he  rode  in  for  his  mail  or  for  other  affairs. 
He  came  the  following  Sunday  and  the  next, 
and  made  the  round  of  Sabbath-school  and 
church  and  mission  and  late  walk  with  the 
professor  and  his  daughter. 

Lawson,  who  had  not  seen  Frances  since 
the  short  drive  she  permitted  him,  was  loiter- 
ing that  last  Sabbath  afternoon  before  the 
doorway  of  a  student  in  the  West  Range  — 
a  monkish  row  of  rooms  fashioned  as  those 
on  the  inner  quadrangle  are,  but  unbroken 
by  the  professors'  houses  and  facing  west- 
105 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

ward ;  he  was  thinking  nothing  of  what  he 
was  saying,  and  was  noting  vaguely  the  fad- 
ing lights  of  sunset  on  the  far-away  moun- 
tains, and  the  bared  branches  of  the  trees 
tossing  softly  against  the  opalescent  sky; 
but  he  was  conscious  through  and  through 
of  the  missed  comradeship  of  the  hour.  He 
wondered  if  he  dared  go  and  ring  the  bell 
and  pay  a  call  quite  boldly,  setting  aside  the 
fact  that  the  day  had  been  debarred  him. 
The  more  he  dwelt  on  the  bare  chance  of 
finding  Frances  alone,  on  the  thought  of  the 
joy  it  would  be  to  strive  skilfully  to  slip 
again  into  the  grooves  of  their  delightful 
friendship,  to  fence  against  the  cold  reserve 
she  had  once  more  placed  as  a  barrier  be- 
tween them,  to  see  it  melt,  perhaps,  against 
the  strong  personality  he  had  come  to  know 
as  one  of  his  factors  in  any  fight,  the  more 
he  wished  to  try  and  see  her;  the  very 
thought  of  it,  the  very  remembrance  that 
there  was  a  test  of  skill,  too,  in  it,  was  urging 
him  irresistibly. 

"  Good-by,  old  fellow ! "  he  called  shortly, 
turning  suddenly  away. 
1 06 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

M  Hold  on  ! "  called  the  student,  who  had 
some  thought  of  accompanying  him.  But 
when  he  had  gotten  his  hat  and  coat,  Lawson 
was  striding  far  down  the  corridor.  At  the 
end  of  it  the  road  from  the  mountain  of 
the  observatory  curved  into  the  wide  drive 
through  the  grounds.  Lawson  looking  up- 
ward was  angered  unreasonably,  violently, 
unbelievingly.  He  left  such  moods  to  others, 
mostly.  He  turned  instantly  into  the  short 
cut  across  the  campus.  He  could  not  hurry 
enough  even  when  outside  the  grounds,  but 
he  must  swing  himself  on  the  car  clanging 
town  ward. 

He  left  behind  a  gay,  unconscious  trio. 
The  professor  and  Frances  and  Edward 
Montague  were  walking  briskly  homeward, 
when  they  glimpsed  him.  The  professor's 
face,  when  interested,  was  strangely  frank 
and  boyish  ;  Lawson  was  used  to  seeing  him 
look  a  trifle  bored  and  a  trifle  more  absorbed. 
To  see  him,  as  he  had  done  that  one  swift 
instant,  alert,  wide-awake,  to  see  a  tall,  fair, 
young  man  talking  to  him  with  careless 
ease  —  the  University  men  were  always  in 
107 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

awe  of  him — to  see  Frances  between  them, 
laughing,  rosy,  her  coat  collar  turned  high 
about  her  head,  framing  her  bright  face  dis- 
tractingly  —  the  trio  shut  him  out.  They 
were  quite  sufficient  to  themselves,  or 
seemed  so. 

"  You  will  come  in,  Edward,"  the  professor 
said  at  the  door. 

The  young  man  looked  at  the  fading  sun- 
set lights  of  the  sky  and  hesitated.  He 
thought  of  the  ride  before  him  and  he 
thought  of  the  empty  house  awaiting  him ; 
he  looked  in  at  the  cheer  of  the  house  show- 
ing through  the  open  door  and  at  the  young 
woman  standing  in  the  hall  listening  for  his 
answer.  Her  face  neither  invited  nor  for- 
bade ;  he  followed  the  professor. 

But  the  contrast  he  had  drawn  for  a  minute 
haunted  him.  He  cared  not  a  whit  for  fine 
furnishings,  scarce  knowing  them  when  he 
saw  them,  except  for  the  air  of  comfort  and 
the  atmosphere  of  home  they  might  give; 
but  those  two  were  requirements.  He  was 
too  busied  all  the  days  and  too  tired  all  the 
nights  to  think  how  they  were  now  denied 
1 08 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

him,  but  while  he  had  no  time  to  bemoan  a 
loss,  he  had  time  for  dreamings.  The  vision 
of  a  sweet,  frank  face  beset  him  oftener  than 
he  knew ;  he  was  building  castles  taller  than 
he  thought  and  frailer  than  the  castled  clouds 
of  sunset  beyond  the  mountains.  This  reality 
was  charming. 

"  What 's  the  use  of  going  home,  now  ?  " 
the  professor  reassured  him  as  they  went  in  to 
the  fireside  ;  "  it  would  be  dark  when  you  got 
there.  You  could  n't  do  anything;  just  have 
an  evening  all  to  yourself." 

"And  father  wants  to  talk  grapes  to  you," 
Frances  added  gayly ;  "  he 's  just  gotten  some 
pamphlets —  " 

The  professor  looked  guilty.  "Well,  I 
chanced  on  an  advertisement  —  " 

"And  he  hasn't  had  a  chance  to  bring 
them  out  all  day  — " 

"  Frances ! " 

14  Here  they  are,"  teased  his  daughter, 
"  with  your  report  on  agriculture,"  she  held 
up  dramatically  the  big  book  she  had  dragged 
from  beneath  the  papers  on  the  table.  "  I 
have  been  listening  to  hear  him  begin  talk- 
109 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

ing  of  it  every  moment.  He's  just  been 
waiting  the  right  time,  —  you  know  you 
have,"  to  her  father. 

The  professor  fingered  the  pamphlet  ner- 
vously. "You  know,  here  —  the  secretary 
says  —  " 

"  There,  he  has  begun ;  I  am  going  to  see 
about  supper." 

Edward  listened.  There  was  much  to 
awaken  his  keenest  interest  He  was  de- 
voted to  his  pursuit,  theory  and  practice. 
But  he  was  listening  too,  with  all  his  inner 
consciousness,  for  a  light  footstep,  and  when 
Frances  came  quietly  back  with  an  amused 
look  at  the  two,  his  eyes  flashed  her  amuse- 
ment back  at  her,  as  with  much  show  of  not 
disturbing  them,  she  slipped  into  a  chair  be- 
fore the  fire.  The  professor  was  uncon- 
scious; he  was  in  full  swing  and  went  on 
glibly. 

The  young  man's  face  was  turned  atten- 
tively towards  him  ;  the  father  did  not  know 
that  just  so  Frances'  face  was  in  the  line  of 
vision,  but  Edward  knew.  It  needed  but 
the  flicker  of  an  eyelid  for  him  to  watch  the 
no 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

supple  figure  in  its  careless  lounging;  the 
fluff  of  the  dark  hair  above  her  forehead, 
the  curve  of  the  long  black  lashes  as  she 
gazed  thoughtfully  into  the  fire.  A  cosy 
fireside,  an  easy  chair  and  this  same  occu- 
pant for  it  flashed  for  a  moment  on  the 
horizon  of  his  dreamings.  It  was  but  a 
dream  he  dared  not  name  even  to  himself, — 
a  vision  that  dazzled  him.  He  put  his  hand 
over  his  eyes. 

The  professor  broke  the  thread  of  his  ar- 
gument. "  You  are  tired  ?  " 

"  I  !  no  —  ah  —  "  the  young  man  stam- 
mered. 

"  Well,  here,  take  this  home  with  you  when 
you  go !  Read  it  for  yourself,  and  see  what 
you  think  of  it;  I  expect  some  others,"  he 
added  shamefacedly. 

"Father!"  cried  Frances  mischievously, 
"  Mr.  Montague,  he 's  started,"  she  added 
comically,  "  there  's  no  stopping  him.  He  '11 
go  with  no  particular  interest  for  ever  so 
long,  then  something  attracts  him,"  she 
spread  out  her  hands  as  if  in  dismay,  "we 
are  flooded  with  papers  and  pamphlets;  he 
in 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

won't  let  me  touch  them.  When  it  is  all 
over  I  gather  them  up  and  —  "  she  made  a 
gesture  as  if  flinging  an  armful  of  trash  into 
the  fire.  "You  have  touched  him  on  his 
most  vulnerable  point  now.  I  don't  know 
when  he  will  stop." 

"  You  had  better  stop,  yourself,"  said  the 
professor  chafing  a  little  under  her  teasing. 

"  I  warn  you,  he  will  try — " 

"  Now,  daughter  ! "  he  knew  what  she  was 
going  to  say,  "you  know  I  never  interfere 
with  other  people." 

"  It 's  true,  every  word  of  k  !  "  but  Frances 
saw  that  her  father  was  hurt  a  trifle.  She 
came  behind  his  chair  and  put  her  arms 
about  his  shoulders,  laughing  over  his  head 
at  Edward  who  was  watching  her  with  half 
envious  amusement. 

"  Professors  should  be  bald,"  she  said 
lightly,  "  now  look  at  this ! "  She  ran  her 
fingers  through  his  thick,  dark  hair,  wavy 
about  the  temples  where  the  gray  showed  in 
the  black.  Her  father  looked  up  at  her  ador- 
ingly, his  eyes  —  which  were  often  stern  — 
dark  and  loving. 

112 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  If  they  were,  they  would  have  no  young 
woman  to  bother  them,  rumpling  it  up." 

"You  are  lucky,  sir,  to  have  one;  isn't 
he?" 

Young  Montague  was  silent,  but  Frances, 
looking  up,  saw  his  eyes.  She  slipped  back 
to  her  chair. 

When  he  took  his  leave,  later  in  the  even- 
ing, he  had  his  own  special  plea. 

"You've  promised  to  come  and  see  the 
old  place,"  he  began. 

"  Father  is  going  to  bring  me  some  day." 

"  I  'm  going  to  make  some  day  a  near 
day,"  he  said  persistently.  "  Mr.  Hollo  way, 
I  'm  going  hunting  Tuesday.  I  Ve  a  good 
deal  of  game  about  my  woods.  Come  out 
Wednesday ;  I  '11  see  you  have  some  for 
dinner." 

The  professor  reluctantly  pleaded  his  en- 
gagements. 

"  It's  moonlight;  you  don't  mind  driving 
home  at  night  ?  " 

"  Oh,  the  road  is  familiar  enough,"  as- 
sented the  professor. 

"  Mrs.  Randall  will  come." 
8  113  ' 


A    GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

"  We  '11  drive  by  for  her." 

"  I  asked  her  to-day  after  church ;  she  said 
any  time  this  week.  I  shall  look  for  you  in 
the  afternoon,  as  early  as  you  can  make  it." 

So  it  was  they  arranged.  Edward  watched 
the  peaks  apprehensively ;  but  the  fine 
weather  held.  His  hunting  was  successful. 
There  were  a  score  of  partridges  and  a  brace 
of  rabbits  in  the  big  basement  kitchen  and 
he  was  cautioning  his  cook  fussily,  when  he 
heard  the  roll  of  wheels. 

"  I  'clar'  I 's  glad  dey  's  come !  "  muttered 
the  cook,  as  at  last  she  was  free  to  go  about 
her  work. 

Edward  had  been  nervously  anxious  all  day. 
The  bare  house  was  swept  and  scrubbed  to 
the  last  point  of  cleanliness.  He  hesitated 
long  over  the  propriety  of  entertaining  them 
in  "  the  chamber,"  over  across  the  hall  from 
the  parlor,  but  it  was  the  only  furnished 
room  of  the  house  except  the  basement  din- 
ing room.  He  got  all  of  his  belongings  out 
of  sight  and  locked  the  closet  door  on  the 
disorder.  He  wondered  if  he  should  leave 
his  pipe  upon  the  mantelpiece  and  at  the 
114 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

last  moment  forgot  it.  He  wondered,  while 
he  raged,  why  the  curtains  looked  so  awry 
and  if  the  rug  were  the  color  he  should  have 
chosen.  But  the  walls  were  white  with 
whitewash,  the  hearth  was  newly  reddened, 
and  on  the  andirons  in  the  huge  fireplace  a 
fire  roared  hot  enough  for  Christmas ;  in  the 
kitchen  below  was  a  scared  cook  who  knew 
she  would  hear  some  hot  language  did  any- 
thing go  wrong  in  her  domains. 

Edward  was  as  glad  as  she  was  to  hear 
the  wheels.  He  hurried  out  on  the  porch 
and  down  the  long  flight  of  steps.  He  had 
hoped  to  help  Frances  from  the  trap  and  say 
some  pretty  words  of  greeting,  but  she  had 
already  sprung  out  and  met  him  at  the  steps. 
The  professor  was  assisting  Mrs.  Randall. 

"  Father  says  you  are  going  to  take  us 
all  over  the  place,*1  called  Frances  at  once. 
"  Let  's  go  now ;  Mrs.  Randall  wants  to, 
also!" 

"  Of  course !  "  chimed  that  pleased  matron ; 
"  we  want  to  see  all  the  establishment. 
When  we  come  back,  I  'm  going  down  in 
the  kitchen." 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  I  wish  you  would,"  pleaded  the  host  fer- 
vently. 

Mrs.  Randall,  who  had  no  children  of  her 
own,  had  a  mother's  heart  for  all:  she  had 
been  longing  to  get  out  to  this  bachelor's 
establishment  ever  since  it  was  set  up,  but 
the  doctor  was  always  too  busy.  She  was 
going  to  make  the  best  of  the  opportunity, 
and  if  this  "boy"  had  any  need  her  bright 
eyes  could  see,  she  was  resolved  to  help  him 
fill  it. 

"  Go  get  your  hat,  Edward ;  we  '11  all  come 
in  afterwards." 

And  the  young  man  ran  back  up  the  steps, 
all  his  pretty  speeches  unsaid. 

"We  '11  go  out  to  the  vineyard  first,"  sug- 
gested the  professor,  hurrying  ahead,  with 
Mrs.  Randall  close  behind  him,  in  the  nar- 
row path  beaten  along  the  tangle  of  yellow 
Jerusalem  apples  and  prickly  Spanish  needles 
and  wild  grasses. 

The  farm  was  still  in  sorry  order.     The 

ground  of  the  orchard  close  to  the   house 

was  covered  with  tangled,  browning  weeds, 

in  some  of  the  trees  the  late  winesaps  shone 

116 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

red  and  ruddy.    Frances  stopped  to  fill  her 
hands  with  them. 

"  Don't  eat  those ;  I  have  some  splendid 
ones  in  the  house  for  you." 

"  These  are  fine ! "  She  set  her  white 
teeth  in  the  red  fruit.  4C I  like  these  best,  I 
like  to  pull  them." 

"  Eve !  "  he  bantered. 

"  Are  they  forbidden  ?  " 

"Nothing  is,  here;  it's  all  yours  —  "he 
began  eagerly. 

"  Oh,  thanks !  Had  you  a  Spanish  an- 
cestor ? " 

14  English  on  each  side,"  he  declared  stoutly. 

"  You  look  it,"  she  assented,  with  one 
quick  look  at  his  fair  face  and  a  swift  not- 
ing of  his  sturdiness. 

"  The  Saxons  are  truth- tellers,"  he  urged. 

But  the  professor  had  paused  at  the  pig- 
pen near  the  orchard's  edge.  "  Fine  hogs ! " 
he  called  back  to  his  host,  "  Cheshire  ? " 

Edward  joined  him  reluctantly.  "  That 
one  is,"  he  said,  pointing  to  the  pinkish- 
white  sides  of  a  lazy,  fat  wallower. 

"  He  '11  weigh  two  hundred." 
117 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

11 1  expect  he  will." 

"  Seems  a  pity  to  kill  him." 

"  I  have  the  mother." 

"  Who 's  going  to  make  your  sausage  and 
dry  your  lard  ? "  asked  Mrs.  Randall  quickly. 

"  Lizzie." 

"  What,  trust  that  darkey  with  it  ? " 

"  There 's  nothing  else  to  do." 

"  Come  on,  Frances,"  called  her  father, 
for  that  young  woman  was  still  loitering 
under  the  apple-trees. 

Mr.  Holloway  took  the  lead  towards  the 
vineyard.  The  Northrup  estate  numbered 
many  acres,  but  not  many  valuable  ones. 
They  were  too  high  up  the  mountains, 
which  ran  steeply  to  their  crests  a  bare  five 
hundred  yards  behind  the  house.  This  nar- 
row valley  at  its  base  sheltered  from  the 
north  was  fertile,  and  wound  straight  at  the 
foot  of  the  peaks  for  nearly  a  mile.  Close 
to  the  house  was  the  vineyard;  beyond  the 
vines,  the  cornfields,  above  there  on  the 
mountain  side,  the  woodland. 

Frances  followed,  but  her  words  of  praise 
were  for  the  autumn  woods,  the  towering 
118 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

peaks,  or,  far  down  below  them,  the  misty 
valley.  About  the  house  was  more  the 
women  could  praise. 

There  was  the  pipe  bringing  its  clear 
mountain  water  from  a  far  off  spring  to 
the  kitchen  door,  there  was  the  great 
ground  floor  room  of  the  wing  stored  with 
apples  shining  redly  against  the  white  of  the 
walls.  Here  Mrs.  Randall  paused. 

"  I  am  going  into  the  kitchen,"  she  an- 
nounced. But  the  professor  and  Frances 
and  Edward  went  up  the  stairway  to  the 
covered  porch  joining  the  wing  to  the  main 
building,  and  by  the  rear  door  of  "the  cham- 
ber "  into  the  house. 

"  You  must  go  through  the  house,"  in- 
sisted Edward. 

The  professor  begged  off.  "  No,  I  '11  sit 
here;  it  isn't  often  I  see  such  a  fire  as  this. 
I  've  been  over  it  before,  and  many  times, 
years  ago." 

The  professor  was  lost  in  the  memory  of 

the  happy  days  he  had   spent   in   the   old 

house    when  his  years  were  less  than  young 

Montague's,  of  the  lives  which  had  drifted 

119 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

far  away,  of  the  strange  fate  that  had 
brought  the  deserted  homestead  into  the 
hands  of  a  schoolfellow's  son,  of  the  odd 
feeling  which  beset  him  when  he  was  being 
made  to  feel  at  home  where  he  had  happily 
been  at  ease  so  many  days  of  his  young 
manhood;  for  the  professor  was  a  dreamer, 
and  his  dreams  showed  him  often  the  real- 
ities of  existence,  true  and  strange.  He 
lived  and  he  saw  life.  He  knew  that 
the  strangeness  of  its  fortunes  were  matched 
in  no  tale  written  or  to  be  written,  because 
at  the  vital  truths  humanity  stops  fear- 
stricken  at  the  unveiling  of  the  God  of  the 
innermost  Holies.  Still  it  is  the  God  and 
still  it  is  the  Holy  and  still  the  veil  hangs 
there.  The  Divine  hand  alone  is  strong 
enough  to  touch  it,  the  Divine  eye  alone  is 
pure  enough  to  see  within,  pitying  enough, 
merciful  enough.  Talk  of  life's  shadows,  its 
sunlights,  its  surface  play ;  leave  the  Holiest 
to  Him ! 

The  man  saw  bright  faces  there  in  the 
flames   which   went    roaring   up   the   great 
chimney,  read  old  tales  in  the  gleaming  em- 
120 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

bers  on  the  hearth,  lived  old  days,  while 
the  echo  of  gay  laughter  floated  down  to 
him. 

Frances  and  her  host  were  walking  through 
the  empty  rooms  upstairs,  the  young  man 
pointing  eagerly  to  views  of  towering  peaks 
silhouetted  against  the  reddening  sky,  their 
sides  tawny  with  the  russet  leaves  of  oaks  or 
vivid  with  the  evergreens,  or  gray  with  bare 
tossing  branches. 

From  the  windows  opposite  those  framing 
such  vistas,  she  looked  into  a  wide  deep 
valley  of  clustering  hill-tops,  low,  soft,  round, 
green,  crowding  close  together,  running 
water  between,  —  though  this  she  could  not 
see. 

"  The  grass  is  green  down  between  those 
hills  the  whole  year  through,"  he  was  telling 
her,  "and  the  water  never  freezes ;  that 's  why 
it  is  such  a  splendid  stock-farm.  Mr.  Payne 
is  very  successful.  I  have  been  wondering 
if  I  should  try  some  stock  here." 

Frances  was  scarce  heeding,  she  was  look- 
ing down  on  the  circle  of  the  lawn  before  the 
door,  tangled,  weed-grown ;  noting  that 

121 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

long  arms  of  the  spirea  needed  trimming, 
that  the  clump  of  jonquils  should  be  freed 
from  weeds,  the  waxberry  trained,  and  the 
roses  freed  from  their  long  dead  branches ; 
it  was  pitiful  to  see  all  this  plenty  of  beauty 
run  to  waste. 

"Shall  we  go  down?  "  he  asked,  seeing  she 
was  only  half  attentive. 

"  You  have  not  seen  the  parlor,"  he  paused 
at  the  foot  of  the  stairway  to  say. 

He  led  the  way  across  the  hall.  "  It 's  a 
splendid  room ! " 

It  was.  But  it  was  empty  and  cold  and 
dusky.  Frances  went  over  to  the  high,  black- 
painted  mantel  and  leaned  against  it  looking 
down  on  the  fireless  hearth.  She  was  think- 
ing how  desolate  it  was.  He,  for  one  flash- 
ing second,  saw  again  his  vision.  For  an 
instant  it  shone  —  the  fire,  the  furnishings, 
the  happy  woman. 

He  stepped  forward  impulsively.  "  It  lacks 
one  thing,"  he  blurted,  without  a  moment's 
thought  of  what  she  would  think  of  his 
speech. 

"Two!  "she  said  lightly. 

122 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Furnishings  as  well,"  he  said  in  his  mind, 
"  furnishings  and  a  mistress,"  he  repeated  in 
his  heart,  but  before  he  could  open  his  lips, 
she  was  saying,  "  Two  1 " 

"  What  ?  "  he  asked  breathlessly. 

"  Steam  heat  and  an  electric  plant  1 " 


123 


IX 

FRANCES  stood  astounded  at  the  sud- 
den anger  in  his  face  as  he  turned 
on  his  heel  and  strode  away,  leaving 
her  in  the  cold,  dusky  room  alone. 

When  she  went  across  the  hall  and  into 
"the  chamber"  he  was  gone  by  the  other 
way ;  Mrs.  Randall  and  her  father  were  deep 
in  a  discussion  of  his  affairs,  farm  and  house- 
hold. Frances  was  left  to  her  own  reflec- 
tions ;  they  held  a  vague  feeling  of  having 
stumbled  somewhere  and  failed  to  measure 
to  a  greatness.  She  was  quiet  for  the  rest 
of  their  visit,  beyond  the  custom  of  that 
cheerful  young  woman.  As  there  was  more 
time  for  thought  she  became  conscience- 
stricken;  she  felt  she  knew  where  she  had 
offended,  she  had  derided  the  home  of  which 
young  Montague  was  so  proud  and  that 
while  a  guest  within  it ;  she  strove  to  make 
her  peace,  but  he  gave  her  no  chance,  until 
124 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

they  waited  on  the  steps  in  the  moonlight 
for  the  trap. 

Mrs.  Randall  was  down  on  the  walk,  the 
professor  was  looking  anxiously  to  Starlight's 
harness ;  Frances  had  lingered  purposely. 

The  road  home  was  rough,  ruts  and  steep 
hills  darkened  by  thick  woods.  Mr.  Hollo- 
way  was  looking  carefully  to  the  fastenings 
of  Starlight's  harness,  unwilling  to  trust  too 
much  to  the  hands  of  the  boy  who  had 
brought  him  to  the  door.  Mrs.  Randal! 
waited  near  him,  Frances  lingered  purposely 
on  the  broad  high  steps  of  the  porch. 

The  moonlight  flooded  the  world ;  its  white 
light  gleamed  on  the  drive  about  the  circle 
where  the  tangled  shrubbery  cast  weird  shad- 
owings;  the  dusk  under  the  trees  on  the 
further  lawn  lay  heavy  and  black ;  far-off 
loomed  the  oaks  above  the  graves  of  those 
who  had  lived  and  died  in  the  old  house  on 
whose  steps  they  stood.  The  air  of  the 
autumn  night  was  chill  and  still,  save  for 
the  restless  movements  of  Starlight.  With 
the  shadowed,  unreal  face  of  the  night  a 
feeling  of  awe  touched  Frances.  She  made 
125 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

a  step  nearer  to  the  young  man  standing  by 
her,  his  tall  figure  towering  above  her,  his 
fair  face  shadowed  by  his  big  soft  hat. 

"We  have  had  a  lovely  visit,"  she  said 
softly. 

"  I  am  glad." 

"And  it's  such  a  beautiful  old  place  — 
beautiful ;  you  must  trim  up  your  roses 
and  —  " 

M  I  know  nothing  of  flowers,"  coldly. 

"  But  I  do ;  I  will  show  you  when  we  come 
again." 

There  was  no  answer,  and  the  young 
woman  began  to  realize  this  was  not  a  case 
for  cajolery,  but  for  open  candid  speech. 

"You  must  think  me  very,  very — "she 
could  not  bring  herself  to  say  "  flippant  "  no 
matter  what  self-accusation  said.  "  You 
know  I  was  only  jesting,  and  we  have 
thoroughly  enjoyed  our  visit.  I  want  to 
come  again  if  you  wish  us,"  plainly  throwing 
herself  on  his  mercy  and  bidding  for  kind 
speech. 

"  If  I  wish  you  —  "  began  the  young  man 
hurriedly. 

126 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"  We  will  come  and  show  you  about  the 
flowers  in  the  spring,"  briskly. 

"  The  spring !  " 

"  Frances,"  called  her  father. 

"  You  are  not  angry  ? "  she  questioned 
quickly  and  softly,  as  they  went  down  the 
steps. 

"  No ! "  was  all  he  said,  yet  Frances  was 
quite  satisfied  with  his  friendliness  as  he  put 
them  in  the  trap  and  tucked  the  robes  about 
them. 

"  Mind  the  old  hill,"  he  cautioned  her 
father;  "  there  's  a  new  road  through  the  wood 
to  the  left  now  —  " 

"  I  remember." 

"And  a  tree  is  cut  down  across  the  old 
way ;  but  it 's  dark  in  there  and  you  might 
get  into  it" 

"  No  danger !  "  assured  the  professor ;  "  but 
Edward,"  as  if  in  sudden  remembrance, 
"  there  's  another  danger  in  the  road  to  town 
—  the  freshet." 

"  Freshet  ? " 

"  Has  no  one  cautioned  you  ?  The  streams 
flood  the  country  after  a  heavy  rain.  The 
127 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

one  below  the  big  hill  is  especially  danger- 
ous. Don't  forget  it  when  the  heavy  rains 
set  in,  and  don't  be  venturesome ;  there  have 
been  some  dreadful  accidents  there." 

"  I  had  not  heard,"  said  Edward  carelessly. 

"  Then  you  had  better  heed,"  declared  the 
professor  sententiously,  as  he  stepped  into  the 
vehicle,  "and  when  the  water  is  out  over 
the  bridge,  stay  on  the  side  you  happen  to 
be  caught  on." 

"  I  '11  remember,  thank  you." 

"  All  right !  Good  night !  When  are  you 
coming  in  ?" 

"  Not  for  a  day  or  two,"  owned  the  young 
man  reluctantly,  as  he  stood,  his  hand  still 
on  the  wheel ;  "  there 's  the  ploughing  for 
spring  wheat." 

u  It 's  time  that  was  done !  " 

14  But  I  have  had  so  much  else." 

"Yes,  yes."  Starlight  was  twisting  rest- 
lessly across  the  drive  from  one  side  to  the 
other.  "  Good  night,  we  've  enjoyed  it  im- 
mensely." 

"  Good  night! "  called  the  women,  and  they 
left  him  there  in  the  circling  drive,  the  great 
128 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

empty  house  looming  behind  him,  a  light 
in  one  window  —  the  window  of  his  own 
room.  He  went  up  the  wide,  high  steps 
slowly.  The  evening  had  not  been  all  he 
dreamed  it  might  be,  nor  had  it  been  a 
failure ;  and  they  were  coming  again.  She 
had  said  she  wished  it. 

He  threw  himself  into  the  chair  the  pro- 
fessor had  lounged  in  and  began  to  live  over 
again  the  hours  of  her  visit,  leaving  out  the 
bitter  and  hugging  to  his  memory  the  sweet. 
He  recalled  her  supple  figure,  her  gay  words 
as  they  wandered  about  the  old  place ;  he 
remembered  their  tour  of  the  house  and 
reddened  at  the  thought  of  his  rudeness.  It 
was  only  a  careless  speech,  she  could  not 
have  known  how  it  jarred  upon  other  deeper 
feelings.  He  recalled  with  a  wave  of  tender- 
ness, the  subdued  young  woman  of  the 
evening,  and  smiled  at  the  memory ;  it  was 
a  mood  he  had  never  seen  before,  and  it  won 
upon  his  heart;  and  dwelling  on  the  thought 
of  it,  he  began  once  more  to  dream  what  the 
old  house  would  be  were  it  full  of  life,  to 
plan  what  could  be  done  here  and  there, 
9  129 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

without  and  within,  for  cheer  and  comfort 
and  beautiful  living. 

It  would  be  several  days  he  had  said, 
before  he  could  come  to  town  again ;  it  was 
ten.  The  Sabbath  had  been  promised  to  a 
neighbor  back  in  the  country.  The  plough- 
ing took  longer  than  he  thought.  A  field 
which  had  been  allowed  to  run  to  waste  must 
be  burned  over ;  and  while  the  weather  held 
fair  and  windless,  the  undergrowth  encroach- 
ing from  the  woodland  must  be  cut  and 
burned.  The  fodder  was  not  yet  stacked, 
and  all  the  work  was  pressing  upon  him. 
Good  hard  work  in  the  clear,  pure  air,  sound 
sleep,  and  contented  thoughts  made  the  days 
speed  by. 

When  the  Sabbath,  his  holiday,  came 
again,  he  was  abroad  in  the  red  frosty  dawn, 
hurrying  from  stable  to  breakfast  and  away. 
When  he  rode  into  town  he  still  had  time  to 
go  up  to  the  University  before  the  service. 
He  left  his  horse  at  the  stable  and  hastened 
up  Main  street.  The  town  was  yet  quiet. 
On  the  bridge  above  the  railroad  he  paused 
a  second  looking  down  at  the  station  below. 
130 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

A  train  was  pulling  out.  The  shriek  of  the 
locomotive  echoed  shrilly  among  the  hills, 
the  smoke  hung  in  billowy  clouds  close 
about  the  smoke-stack,  and  the  tops  of  the 
coaches  gliding  away  were  white  and  glister- 
ing with  frost.  Edward  had  a  comfortable 
feeling  of  home  and  cheer  as,  standing  there, 
he  looked  down  and  beyond  on  spires  and 
housetops  and  chimney-tops  smoke-wreathed; 
but  as  he  turned  to  hasten  on,  he  saw,  com- 
ing slowly  along  the  platform,  the  professor. 
Edward  hurried  back  to  the  flight  of  steps 
sunk  in  the  hillside. 

The  very  look  of  Mr.  Holloway  gave  him 
a  feeling  of  dismay.  His  coat  collar  was 
turned  high  about  his  face,  and  the  pallor  of 
his  clear  white  skin,  bitten  into  purple  and 
red  by  the  chill  of  the  morning,  showed 
clearly  framed  against  it  and  by  his  thick 
black  hair  streaked  with  gray.  His  dark 
eyes  looked  solemnly  thoughtful.  He  had  an 
air  altogether  desolate  and  distraught.  Ed- 
ward called  to  him.  He  started,  looked  up, 
and  brightened  wonderfully. 

M  Ah  1    I  am  glad  to  see   you."     He  had 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

reached  the  head  of  the  stairway.  "  Fran- 
ces," he  added  dolefully,  "  has  gone  away ;  I 
have  just  been  to  see  her  off." 

Fool !  While  he  had  been  standing  there 
happy  with  dreaming  of  seeing  her,  she  had 
been  slipping  away  from  him  in  the  glisten- 
ing coaches  he  had  watched  so  idly. 

He  had  not  a  word  to  say. 

"  Don't  know  what  possessed  her.  It  was 
a  sudden  fancy.  Last  night  she  took  it  into 
her  head  all  at  once.  It  is  n't  like  Frances 
to  do  such  things !  She  was  going  this  morn- 
ing, she  said,  and  she  had  us  up  by  daybreak; 
she  was  bent  on  making  this  early  train." 

"  Where  has  she  gone  ?  "  asked  Edward, 
dully. 

"  Keswick  !  Her  cousin,  you  know ;  she 
can  telephone  to  the  store  near  his  farm  and 
have  them  send  out  for  her.  But,"  he  re- 
peated, "  I  can't  think  what  possessed  her." 

Had  the  professor  been  able  to  think,  to 
know  what  sent  his  daughter  running  away 
from  him,  his  wrath  had  been  hard  for  some 
one  that  day. 

The  day  before  had  been  the  match  game. 
132 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

Frances,  though  some  vague,  half-delicious 
instinct  of  fear  and  distrust  had  made  her 
keep  from  the  old  friendly  footing  with  Law- 
son,  had  grown  wildly  enthusiastic  at  each 
day's  practice.  At  three  o'clock  of  that 
afternoon  she  had  been  driving  out  towards 
the  ground.  An  orange  and  blue  rosette 
was  pinned  in  the  breast  of  her  smart  brown 
jacket,  and  an  orange  and  blue  pennant  lay 
at  her  feet  in  the  trap. 

Carriage  after  carriage  was  winding  up 
the  road  already  in  the  enclosure.  The 
wind  was  soft,  the  sunshine  of  Indian  Sum- 
mer brooding  over  the  land ;  the  blue  haze 
of  the  mountains,  intensified,  hung  about 
their  slopes  and  peaks.  Here  and  there  the 
late  leaves  still  clung,  blackberry  and  sumach 
flaunted  their  scarlet  in  the  fence  corners, 
and  on  the  bit  of  rock-fence  bordering  a  field 
the  poison  oak  and  ivy  flecked  the  dull  hue 
with  red  and  bronze.  Far  below,  where  the 
land  dipped  to  the  valley,  the  country  shim- 
mered in  the  sunlight. 

Inside  the  grounds,  Frances  pulled  up 
close  beside  the  ropes.  The  grand  stand 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

had  scarce  an  occupant,  but  all  the  enclosure 
outside  the  ropes  about  the  arena  was  filled 
with   carriages,   the   young    women    calling 
from  one  to  the  other.     The  University  men  I 
were  crowded  close  on  the  other  sides  of  the  ] 
ropes,  calling,  hurrahing,  yelling,  or,  more 
sociably  inclined,  lounging  around  the  bar- 
riers and  talking  to  the  young  women  in  the 
carriages. 

One  of  them  came  up  to  Frances  and  im- 
perturbably  possessed  himself  of  the  seat  by 
her  side.  It  was  far  more  fun  in  his  code, 
to  be  sitting  by  a  pretty  young  woman,  than 
to  be  crowded  with  the  fellows  over  there. 
They  were  envying  him  he  knew,  and  he 
leaned  back  in  enjoyment  of  his  unlooked- 
for  position. 

Frances  was  giving  him  scant  heed. 

The  reins  were  thrown  across  the  dash- 
board, trusting  Starlight's  scant  sagacity.  In 
the  whip-stand  was  thrust  the  stick  of  her 
pennant.  It  fluttered  in  the  soft  air,  the  first 
unfurled,  and  the  boys  beyond  the  barriers 
cheered  it  lustily.  It  was  not  destined  to 
stay  there.  Before  the  game  was  half  over, 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

Frances,  standing  on  her  feet,  was  waving  it 
wildly  above  her  head. 

The  home  team  was  playing  magnificently. 
The  visiting  eleven  had  beaten  them  the 
year  before :  they  were  not  doing  so  now. 
The  field  was  wild.  Call  after  call,  college 
yell,  keen  irony,  a  cheer  for  this  play,  a  jeer 
for  that,  urged  on  the  University  men.  The 
visitors  held  stolidly  to  their  work.  The 
boys  beyond  the  barriers  were  doing  every- 
thing to  rattle  them,  but  the  game  went 
close.  The  home  team  made  one  score,  the 
visitors  had  nothing,  the  field  went  wild  with 
cheering;  the  visitors  scored,  there  was  si- 
lence. Once  more  the  home  team  made  a 
point;  the  umpire  snapped  his  watch,  called 
time ;  there  was  a  pandemonium  of  yells. 

Frances,  standing,  the  pennant  in  her 
hand,  watched  the  team  jump  the  ropes, 
spent,  worn,  but  happy  with  victory.  Law- 
son  was  still  in  the  arena,  easing  the  defeat 
of  the  visitors  by  skilful  flattery  of  their 
play,  when  she  drove  out.  She  watched  the 
men,  as  she  drove  down  the  road,  running 
along  the  field  path  through  the  sere  grasses, 
US 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

their  arms  close  to  their  sides,  their  sweaters 
up  to  their  chins,  the  hair  on  their  foreheads 
heavy  with  sweat.  Lawson  overtook  them 
just  where  the  path  came  out  into  the  road. 
He  was  the  last.  His  play  had  gone  far  to 
winning  the  day.  Frances  with  quick  fingers 
unfastened  the  rosette  on  her  breast  and 
flung  it  to  him  as  she  went  spinning  by. 

Lawson  crushed  it  in  his  hand  and  ran 
on ;  his  bath,  his  clothes,  they  cost  him  short 
time.  He  slipped  from  his  room,  down  the 
quadrangle  before  the  crowd  was  well  back. 

As  it  chanced,  Frances,  when  he  rang  the 
bell  of  the  professor's  house,  was  half-way  up 
the  stair.  An  open  door  and  drawn  portiere 
showed  an  empty  room  beyond,  the  firelight 
shining  in  the  library  darkened  by  the  com- 
ing twilight.  The  hall  was  dusky.  Frances' 
supple  figure  leaned  over  the  banister. 

"  Bravo  ! "  she  called  gayly  down  to  him. 

Susan  banged  the  door  as  she  went  through. 
She  was  not  yet  won  to  "  f ur-awayers." 

"  It  was  splendid,  splendid! "  cried  Frances, 
coming  slowly  down,  her  hand  slipping  along 
the  banister. 

136 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

He  stood  at  the  foot,  silent,  looking  up  at 
her,  his  hair  damp  and  tossed  into  heavy 
locks  on  his  forehead,  his  face  ruddy  with 
work  and  haste  —  strong,  alert,  nerved  to 
forgetfulness  of  everything  save  one  feeling. 
His  eyes,  masterful,  drew  her  to  him,  slowly, 
steadfastly,  step  by  step;  on  the  last  stair 
she  paused,  her  hand  trembling  about  the 
carving  on  the  newel  post,  she  could  not 
look  in  his  eyes,  she  saw  instead  her  rosette 
in  his  button-hole. 

For  him,  the  cap  he  held  in  his  hand  flut- 
tered to  his  feet ;  he  held  out  both  hands. 

11  Frances  ! "  he  whispered. 

His  eyes  met  hers.  Her  breast  rose  in  a 
long  breath.  The  dusky  hall,  his  face  shin- 
ing there,  the  world  empty  save  for  them- 
selves; it  was  the  setting  of  fate.  In  one 
whirling  thought  the  pages  of  all  the  old 
romances  she  had  dreamed  over  held  and 
impelled  her,  she  was  one  of  them.  She 
was  throbbing,  sentient  with  the  spirit  they 
rhymed.  It  was  this  that  beat  to  suffocation 
in  heart  and  pulse,  and  held  her  helpless. 
She  leaned  heavily  against  the  banister.  And 
137 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

just  below,  his  face  on  a  level  with  hers,  his 
eyes,  with  neither  laughter  nor  triumph,  but 
passionate  pleading,  searching  her  face,  he 
stood.  He  put  his  arms  about  her  gently, 
closed  them  around  her  passionately,  and 
kissed  her,  — a  joy  he  had  not  dreamed  he  or 
any  man  could  feel,  surging  through  him ; 
and  then  she  had  wrenched  herself  from  him 
and  sped  upward. 


138 


FRANCES  sped  upward  to  her  room. 
Susan  had  lighted  a  fire  in  the  grate. 
She  flung  herself  into  the  chair  before 
it  and  covered  her  face  with  her  hands. 

It  was  unbelievable !  Without  the  ex- 
cuse of  one  word  of  love-making  she  had 
allowed  what  even  the  Beauty  would  have 
fenced  gayly  against  and  held  off,  for  a 
time,  at  least.  All  her  training,  the  tradi- 
tions of  her  childhood  and  maidenhood, 
beat  against  her  fiercely.  She  slid  from 
the  chair  to  the  rug,  pressed  her  face  into 
it,  her  arms  close  flung  about  her  head, 
shutting  out  the  accusations  the  dusky  room 
was  pulsing  with;  but  she  shut  them  the 
more  closely  in  her  heart  and  they  rang 
there.  They  were  wordless,  but  she  knew 
them,  was  conscious  of  them  from  head  to 
foot. 

All   her   sweet  dignity   and   gay   ease  — 
though  she  thought  not  of  herself  in  such 
139 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

manner,  only  in  hot,  resentful  scorn  —  were  set 
at  naught,  and  she  had  played  to  its  full  the 
part  she  had  strenuously  held  herself  from, 
the  love  of  an  hour  of  a  University  man. 

She  was  suffocated  with  shame,  hot  with 
anger.  There  was  no  memory  of  a  swift 
sudden  joy,  such  as  swept  over  Lawson 
that  moment,  standing  in  his  room  alone ; 
remembrance  was  burnt  out  by  angry  re- 
sentment at  herself  and  him.  She  hated 
him  for  the  agony  she  felt.  It  was  against 
such  an  hour  as  this  her  first  instincts  had 
warned  her  and  she  had  not  heeded.  She 
would  heed  now.  She  would  never  see 
him  again,  were  it  possible;  and,  that  being 
impossible,  she  would  find  ways  of  putting 
days  before  the  evil  moment. 

When  she  heard  her  father  in  the  hall 
she  stumbled  to  her  feet,  she  bathed  her 
hot  face  and  straightened  her  stock  and 
smoothed  her  rumpled  hair;  but  when  she 
flashed  the  electric  light  into  the  bulb 
above  her  mirror,  she  shrank  back  affrighted 
from  the  face  pictured  there.  She  could 
never  go  down  with  such  a  tale  written  on 
140 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

it  as  she  herself  could  read.  She  began 
slowly  walking  up  and  down  her  long, 
high-ceilinged  room,  pressing  back  her  tor- 
mented thoughts  behind  the  doors  of  re- 
solve. Had  she  been  given  to  headaches 
or  sudden  small  illnesses,  how  gladly  would 
she  have  pleaded  them,  but  such  would  have 
been  so  abnormal  as  to  demand  a  physician. 
She  smiled  as  she  thought  of  her  father's 
and  Susan's  dismay  and  Dr.  Randall's  swift 
summons;  and,  thinking  of  others,  she  won 
self-control. 

She  went  down  the  stair,  slowly  at  first, 
and  then,  near  the  foot,  with  swift  step  and 
eyes  averted  from  the  spot  there  beneath 
the  circle  of  white  light. 

Her  father  looked  up  with  dreamy  eyes. 
He  was  absorbed  in  his  books.  Frances 
drew  a  little  sobbing  breath  of  relief.  She 
would  not  be  called  upon  to  make  any  effort. 
She  picked  up  a  well-thumbed  and  well-loved 
copy  of  Burroughs  and  slipped  into  her 
chair.  The  book  lay  open  on  her  knees; 
she  knew  her  father  was  heedless  of  the  un- 
turned leaves. 

141 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

But  at  the  supper  table,  a  cup  clattered 
against  a  saucer  as  she  handed  them,  Susan 
saw;  the  food  on  her  plate  was  untouched, 
jealous  black  eyes  from  the  half-opened 
pantry  door  watched — she  was  white,  her  gray 
eyes  were  dark  and  troubled — jealous  eyes 
of  an  old  bent  darkey  who  would  have  shut 
every  trouble  from  her,  heeded,  and  keenly 
enough  contrasted  them  with  the  brilliant 
laughing  face  she  had  looked  into  when  she 
opened  the  door  in  the  dusk  of  the  afternoon. 
There  had  been  one  visitor  since  then ;  she 
knew  at  whose  door  to  lay  the  blame. 

When  Frances  came  into  the  kitchen 
an  hour  later  with  a  great  pretence  of  gayety 
the  old  woman  read  her  through  and  through. 

"  Susan,  just  think,"  she  cried,  "  I  'm  going 
away  on  an  early  train  to-morrow!" 

"  'Fore  Gawd !  "  said  Susan  to  herself, "  it 's 
wuss  than  I  thought." 

"You'll  give  me  an  early  breakfast?" 
coaxingly. 

"  Think  I  'm  gwine  let  yuh  go  widout  any- 
thing ter  eat,"  snapped  Susan,  cross  in  her 
anxiety.     "  Whar  yuh  gwine  ?  " 
142 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  Down  to  Cousin  Tom's ;  he  says  he 
wants  me  to  come ;  he  wrote  to  father  to-day." 
Frances  was  making  powerful  use  of  a  casual 
invitation  at  the  end  of  a  business  note. 
"  Father  has  just  told  me.  I  'm  going  to- 
morrow. It 's  the  very  time,  the  weather  is 
lovely.  We  '11  gather  walnuts  and  —  and 
persimmons." 

The  constrained  manner  had  no  effect  in 
fooling  Susan.  "  Plenty  walnuts  up  de  road," 
she  grumbled,  "and  as  for  'simmons,  'sim- 
monsf  I  don't  see  nuthin'  else  in  de  fence 
corners  anywhars,  myself." 

"  Oh,  Susan,  it  is  n't  that,"  half  tearfully. 
"  I  want  to  go." 

"  Em  —  hm  !  So  I  thought,  wants  to 
go ! "  Susan  opened  the  stove  door  and 
flung  in  a  piece  of  wood  —  she  could  never 
be  persuaded  to  cook  with  coal  —  and 
banged  the  door  wrathfully.  "  What  yo'  pa 
gwine  do  widout  you  ?  How  's  I  gwine  get 
erlong?" 

"  You  will  get  along  all  right.     You  know 
a  lot  more  about  housekeeping  than   I  do. 
What  I  know  you  taught  me." 
143 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

This  was  one  of  Susan's  prides  —  her  own 
skill  and  her  ready  pupil's. 

"  How 's  dat  young  man  foreber  trapsin' 
aroun'  hyar  gwine  git  erlong?  " 

"  Who  ?  "  asked  the  girl  faintly. 

"  Who  ?  Who  dat  I  open  de  do'  for  dis 
ebenin',  I  wants  ter  know?  " 

Frances  drooped.  A  tide  of  red  swept 
her  face  from  chin  to  forehead. 

"  Dat 's  it,  dog-gone  him  !  "  said  Susan,  in 
her  jealous  old  heart. 

The  young  girl  straightened  herself 
proudly  and  looked  her  tormentor  straight 
in  the  eye. 

"  He 's  never  been  '  trapsing,'  as  you  call 
it,"  she  said  with  cold  haughtiness,  "  and 
there  '11  be  neither  getting  along  with  or 
without  him  as  far  as  I  am  concerned."  She 
turned  and  walked  out  of  the  room,  head 
high,  shoulders  straight ;  and  she  banged  the 
door  a  trifle  behind  her. 

"Hi  —  yi!"  chuckled  Susan,  delighted, 
"  dat 's  de  stuff !  Aint  gwine  git  erlong  wid 
or  widout  him!  Aint  no  dy-away-ed-ness 
'bout  dat  I " 

144 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

She  showed  her  favor  by  the  hot  delicious 
breakfast  she  had  ready  early  next  morning, 
and  she  went  cheerily  about  coaxing  Fran- 
ces to  eat  and  taking  no  notice  of  her  pale 
languor  except  to  say,  "  it  was  suttenly  hard 
to  start  abroad  befo'  sun-up  dese  mornin's," 
and  altogether  bolstering  and  buoying  up 
Frances. 

"  Don't  stay  too  long,  honey,  don't  stay 
too  long;  I 's  gwine  take  good  care  o'  Marse 
Robert,  but  don't  stay  too  long,"  she  urged 
at  last,  as  Frances  stood  on  the  low  step  lead- 
ing down  to  the  corridor,  looking  furtively 
up  and  down.  It  was  deserted.  Susan's 
one  swift  glance  had  told  her  that,  and  the 
quadrangle  looked  cold  and  bare :  frost  glis- 
tened on  the  grass  and  on  the  naked  branches 
of  the  maples,  the  vine  rustled  its  dry  ten- 
drils about  the  pillar. 

"  Hurry  erlong,  chile,  or  yuh  '11  miss  de 
train,"  warned  Susan,  watching  them  has- 
tening across  the  campus  before  she  went 
back  to  her  work. 

The  professor,  with  discomfiture  besetting 
him,  had  hurried  on  with  Frances.    It  was  alto- 
10  145 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

gether  too  cold  and  uncomfortable  for  talk. 
They  caught  a  car,  just  made  the  train ;  he 
had  scarce  had  time  to  think  when  he  came 
slowly  up  the  stair  in  the  hillside  to  meet 
young  Montague  at  the  top. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  Edward 
asked  after  a  second's  silence. 

"  I  suppose  we  '11  get  along  somehow. 
Susan  —  " 

"  I  meant  now,"  said  the  young  man  with 
a  short  laugh;  "there's  scarce  time  to  get 
out  home,"  he  added  briskly.  "  Come,  walk 
down  town  and  we  '11  go  to  church  after  a 
while." 

"  Well !  "  the  professor  turned  townward 
with  a  strange  and  unwonted  distaste  for  the 
empty  house  back  there  facing  the  quad- 
rangle. "  You  will  come  back  out  with  me," 
he  insisted,  thinking  of  the  loneliness. 

The  young  man  nodded  his  assent.  Once 
there,  however,  if  the  loneliness  did  not  so 
much  oppress  the  professor  it  was  like  a 
weight  to  his  guest. 

The  theories  of  agriculture  and  stock- 
raising  had  lost  the  flavor  of  their  charm. 
146 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

They  needed  the  bright  face  across  the  hearth 
sometimes  listening  in  amusement,  some- 
times lost  in  dreamings,  but  always  with  the 
happy  curve  of  the  lip,  the  kindliness  of  her 
innocent  eyes.  He  found  himself  listening 
for  the  sound  of  light  footsteps  in  the  hall  or 
the  tones  of  a  low,  musical  voice.  The  place 
was  haunted  with  memories.  It  was  insup- 
portable. As  soon  after  dinner  as  he  dared, 
he  rose  to  go. 

His  host  was  plainly  dismayed.  "You 
are  not  going  ?  " 

The  guest  pleaded  some  excuse.  Then  as 
he  saw  the  other's  aimless  distress,  "  Why 
don't  you  come  out  with  me?" 

"  My  mission  class." 

"  Cut  it  for  once,"  advised  the  other  calmly. 

"  Since  the  class  was  formed,  I  Ve  never  —  " 

"  But  the  more  reason  now.  We  11  drop  in 
on  our  way  down  and  get  some  one  to  take 
it." 

"Starlight  — "  the  professor  began  pro- 
testingly. 

"  He  '11  need  exercise  now'' 

That  little  word,  and  the  emphasis  on  it, 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

the  thought  of  what  it  meant,  decided  him. 
"  I  '11  just  tell  Susan,"  he  declared  briskly,  as 
he  went  down  the  hall. 

"  Tell  her  you  '11  spend  the  night!" 
The  professor   paused,  his  hand    on    the 
knob  of  the  kitchen  door.     "  I  will,"  he  de- 
clared, "  I  will."     And  he  went  off  as  gayly 
as  a  boy.     He  too  was  a  runaway. 

But  there  was  a  stay-at-home  who,  as  the 
day  wore  on  and  he  passed  the  empty  house 
and  repassed  it,  and  went  across  the  quad- 
rangle for  a  long  look  at  the  windows  and 
found  them  blank,  was  strangely  perturbed. 
He  saw  the  professor  and  the  young  man  he 
had  seen  with  him  once  or  twice  before  come 
home  from  church,  no  bright  young  woman 
jealously  guarded  between  them.  He  saw 
them  go  out  alone.  But  for  some  tingling 
memories  and  some  vague  fears,  he  would 
have  gone  boldly  across  and  asked  for  Fran- 
ces then.  But  the  house  looked  prim  and 
silent.  The  curtains  of  her  windows  were 
drawn  with  exactness,  and  no  white  hand 
stirred  them.  At  evening,  going  that  way 
purposely,  he  saw  nogleam  through  the  library 
148 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

window  or  through  the  transom  of  the  wide 
hall  door.  The  house  was  utterly  given 
over  to  the  silence  and  the  dark.  This,  when 
he  was  fierce  with  heart-hunger  to  see  her, 
to  say  a  hundred  wild  things,  to  touch  per- 
haps the  height  of  the  joy  of  yesterday.  By 
the  afternoon  of  the  next  day  it  had  grown 
an  impossibility  not  to  know  the  meaning 
of  this  silence. 

He  got  up  from  his  Morris  chair,  in  his 
room  where  he  had  been  vainly  trying  to 
study,  when  he  came  at  last  to  this  moment 
of  decision,  picked  up  his  cap  and  went  with 
firm  ringing  step  down  the  corridor  to  the 
professor's  house. 

A  scant  five  minutes  before  Susan  in  the 
kitchen  had  been  startled  by  the  ringing  of 
the  telephone.  She  climbed  up  on  the  stool, 
placed  there  for  her  short,  spare  self,  and  put 
the  receiver  to  her  ear. 

"  Susan  ? "  came  over  the  wire,  interroga- 
tively. 

"  Miss  Frances,"  delightedly,  "dat  you?" 

"  Yes,  how  's  everything  getting  along  ? " 

M  So  — sol" 

149 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"  How  is  father  ? " 

"Ain't  seen  him  but  a  minute,  he  went 
out  to  Marse  Edward  Montague's." 

Frances,  far  off  in  the  rear  of  a  store  on 
the  mountain-side,  made  a  little  exclamation 
that  carried  to  Susan  as  she  stood  with 
pendant  lip  and  wrinkled  forehead,  the  re- 
ceiver at  her  ear. 

"  What  did  he  do  that  for  ?  "  Susan  could 
catch  the  impatient  note. 

"  Dunno !  Marse  Edward  come  to  dinnah 
an'  he  'low  as  how  he  's  gwine  back  wid 
him." 

"  How  did  you  get  along  by  yourself  ?  " 

"  All  right !  " 

"  All  right !  Susan,"  with  sudden  brisk 
energy,  "my  small  trunk  is  packed,  I  want 
you  to  send  it  to  me." 

"  Fo'  de  Lawd,"  groaned  Susan,  but  her 
lips  were  away  from  the  tube. 

"  I  need  the  dresses ;  I  thought  I  might, 
and  put  them  in  there,  so  that  if  I  did  —  and 
Susan,  wrap  my  riding-habit  up,  fold  it  care- 
fully, and  slip  the  bundle  under  the  trunk- 
straps." 

150 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Lawd  a'mighty  !  " 

"  Send  it  down  this  evening." 

"  Miss  Frances,  you  ain't  gwine  ride  none 
o'  Marse  Tom's  horses  ?  "  Tom  had  a  stock- 
farm,  some  beauties,  some  beasts,  all  of  them 
fiery. 

"  There 's  the  prettiest  colt  here,  just 
broken ! " 

"  I 's  gwine  to  tell  yo'  pa ! " 

"  Don't  you  dare  ;  send  my  things.  You 
hear?" 

"  Yes." 

"  And  Susan,"  after  a  little  wait,  "  has  any- 
body been  to  see  me  ? " 

"  Not  a  soul !  "  emphatically. 

41  Don't  you  tell  anybody  where  I  am,  any- 
body, you  hear.  Good-by ! "  suddenly. 

"  Dat  I  won't." 

Susan  hung  up  the  receiver.  As  she 
stepped  off  the  stool  the  door-bell  rang. 
She  went  to  answer  it  nimbly,  though  she 
was  bent  with  rheumatism.  A  young  man 
stood  on  the  single  broad  step  above  the 
pavement  of  the  corridor. 

He  doffed  his  cap,  but  Susan  stood  stiffly 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

in    the   middle   of    the   doorway.      "  Marse 
Robert  is  not  at  home,"  she  said  coldly. 

The  young  man  flushed,  looked  half 
embarrassed  and  started  to  pass  her.  "  I 
would  like  to  see  Miss  Frances!" 

Susan  dodged  before  him.  "  She  's  not  at 
home." 

"When  will  she  be  back?"  asked  the 
young  man,  angered  at  the  old  darkey's 
manner. 

"  I  dunno !  " 

"  Tell  her  that  I  will  call  and  see  her  a 
few  moments  this  evening."  He  unbuttoned 
his  coat  and  fumbled  for  his  card-case. 

Susan  waited  until  the  bit  of  cardboard 
was  in  her  hand.  "She  won't  be  hyar!" 
she  said  in  a  perfectly  expressionless  tone, 
as  she  turned  the  card  over  in  her  yellow 
palm  and  eyed  it  curiously 

"When  will  she  be?" 

"  Lord  only  knows !  " 

"  She  's  at  home  ? "  asked  the  young  fellow 
in  a  sudden  sharp  anxiety. 

"  Dat  she  ain't !  " 

"What!     Where  is  she?" 
152 


A   GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

Susan  looked  at  him,  her  black  eyes  in  her 
wrinkled  face  still  as  pools  of  ink  and  as 
fathomless. 

"  I  dunno,"  she  lied. 

"When  did  she  go?" 

"  Yestiddy." 

Light  was  breaking  in  on  the  young  man, 
light  and  darkness ;  light  as  to  the  deserted 
air  of  the  house,  darkness  as  to  Frances  and 
her  motives. 

14  And  you  don't  know  where  she  went?" 
He  stood  for  a  few  moments,  his  eyes  on  the 
worn  pavement  at  his  feet.  Presently  his 
hand  slipped  again  into  his  pocket.  "  If  you 
can,  tell  me  where  she  is,"  he  said  suavely ; 
"  save  me  an  envelope  of  a  letter,  you  know." 

Susan  nodded,  comprehension  all  over  her 
face.  He  slid  a  bill  into  her  hand.  One 
quick  glance  out  of  the  tail  of  her  eye 
showed  Susan  the  V  in  the  corner.  Trem- 
ulous with  delight  she  clasped  her  hands 
over  her  treasure  under  her  apron. 

"You'll  keep  me  posted?" 

Susan  nodded  a  seemingly  joyful  assent. 

The   young  man   stepped   down   on   the 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

pavement ;  as  if  in  sudden  thought  he  turned 
back.  "  Who  was  that  young  fellow  I  saw 
with  Mr.  Holloway  yesterday  ? " 

Susan  grinned  with  affability.  Having 
lied  once  with  ease,  she  did  it  now  with 
grace.  "  Dat  ?  Dat  's  Marse  Edward  Mon- 
tague, sah !  " 

"And  who  is  he?" 

"  De  —  laws  —  a  —  me !  Don't  you  know  ? 
Dat 's  Miss  Frances'  beau." 

Susan,  when  she  saw  the  look  which 
flashed  into  his  eyes,  knew  she  had  scored 
for  many  things ;  she  had  scored  for  Miss 
Frances'  white  cheeks  and  dark,  troubled 
eyes ;  she  had  scored  for  her  own  loneliness 
without  her. 


154 


XI 

IT  was  ten  days  later  that,  as  Lawson 
hurried   down    the    corridor   past   the 
professor's  house,  the  curtains  of   the 
library  window  were  stirred  slightly  and  a 
skinny  finger  beckoned  him. 

He  was  still  scornfully  angry,  but  he  was 
anxious;  he  stopped.  The  door  was  set 
ajar  and  Susan's  face  peered  through  the 
crack.  She  was  grinning  joyously. 

"  Come  inside !  "  she  whispered. 

He  frowned,  but  he  obeyed  her.  With 
one  lightning  glance  about  him  and  one 
swift  memory  of  the  last  moment  he  stood 
there,  he  shut  the  door  behind  him  and 
waited  to  hear  what  the  bent  and  shrivelled 
old  woman  had  to  say. 

She  drew  a  paper  from  the  folds  of  her 
dress.  "  Hyar  't  is ! "  she  exclaimed,  handling 
the  envelope  lovingly.  "  I  cyarnt  read,  but 
I  'd  know  dis  writin',  any  whars ;  't  is  straight 
up  an'  down,  an'  clear  an'  hones' ! " 
'55 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

Lawson  seized  it  quickly.  The  envelope 
was  directed  to  Mr.  Robert  Holloway.  He 
gave  a  smothered  exclamation.  The  writing 
was  clear  and  decided,  the  postmark,  "  Kes- 
wick."  The  glance  he  flashed  Susan  was 
scathing,  but  she  stood  innocently  attentive  ; 
her  manner  might  have  deceived  a  man  of 
her  own  State ;  it  did  deceive  Lawson  with 
his  western  ignorance  of  her  race. 

"  She  don't  write  much,  Miss  Frances 
don't."  Susan  had  no  word  to  say  of  the 
daily  message  over  the  telephone,  and  Law- 
son  himself  never  thought  of  that  way  of 
communication. 

"  She  allus  was  mighty  kerles  'bout  writin'." 
M  And  she  's  there,  as  near  as  that  ?  " 
Susan  nodded.  "  Dat  's  whar  she  was  when 
she  writ,  but  she  's  visitin'  Voun',  an'  we  neb- 
ber  did  know  jes'  whar  she  was ;  but  dat  's  all 
right." 

Lawson  hurried  into  the  library.  The 
daily  paper  of  the  town  lay  on  the  table ;  he 
turned  the  pages  to  the  railroad  sched- 
ule, Susan  eyeing  him  watchfully  from  the 
door. 

156 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

His  morning  lecture  was  important,  he 
could  not  cut  it.  There  were  no  trains  he 
could  make  down  and  back  in  the  afternoon  ; 
he  would  drive.  His  mind  full  of  the  deter- 
mination he  came  out  in  the  hall.  He  did 
not  even  notice  Susan,  eagerly  expectant,  as 
she  stood  there,  of  another  bill  to  add  to  her 
hoard.  His  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  carved 
newel  post  where  Frances'  trembling  hand 
had  lain  when  last  he  had  seen  her.  Could 
the  distrustful  old  darkey  have  read  his  heart 
she  might  have  forgiven  him  and  befriended 
him,  for  at  that  moment  it  held  nothing  but 
strong,  intense  love  for  the  girl  she  herself 
idolized,  and  the  resolve  to  see  her,  to  make 
his  peace  with  her,  to  overcome  whatever 
barrier,  ghostly  or  real,  had  risen  between 
them.  He  was  not  a  whit  afraid  of  any  rival. 
The  only  effect  such  declaration  had  had 
was  to  crystallize  his  dreaming  to  decision 
for  action,  and  to  fafrly  madden  his  impatient 
nature  that  was  held  in  leash,  action  being 
impossible. 

He  was  the  first  in  the  dining-hall  that 
noon.  While  the  sun  was  still  overhead,  he 
157 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

was  driving  behind  his  bays  out  of  town, 
over  the  dusky  bridge  where  the  rafters  were 
draped  with  cobwebs,  fold  upon  fold  and 
dusty  and  gray, —  and  where  the  Rapidan  ran 
deep  and  yellow  far  underneath,  up  the  long 
winding  hill  from  whose  top  he  might  see 
the  rolling  hills,  the  house-tops  and  spires 
of  the  far-stretching  town,  and  circling  peaks, 
and,  there  to  the  right,  the  crest  of  Monti- 
cello.  But  he  never  turned  his  head.  He 
saw  his  horses  and  the  hard  red  clay  road, 
perfect  in  this  season  as  a  stretch  of  asphalt; 
hills  closed  about  him,  as  he  sped  on,  or 
opened  showing  valley  and  mountain,  bare 
washed  hillsides  vividly  red,  or  fresh-plowed 
fields,  or  pale  green  shoots  of  wheat  over 
fields  of  brick-dust  hue,  or  sere  pasture 
lands,  or  stubble  fields.  Beyond  the  care 
for  his  driving  he  saw  nothing  but  a  vision 
of  a  drooping  face,  the  rose-red  of  confusion 
flushing  it,  downcast  eyes  and  tremulous 
mouth.  He  dreamed  of  it,  but  it  was  some- 
thing more  than  dreaming,  it  was  dreaming 
translated  to  resolve.  He  saw  nothing  ever 
that  he  wanted,  without  reaching  out  strong 
158 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

hands  for  its  possession.  He  was  doubly  re- 
solved, doubly  strong  for  this,  according  to 
the  intensity  of  his  desire. 

At  the  village  of  Keswick,  where  the  road 
crossed  the  railway,  he  stopped  for  informa- 
tion, and,  having  gotten  it,  rode  on.  Soon 
he  was  off  the  main  road  and  driving  along 
a  way  which  led  through  thick  woods  with 
many  branching  roads  right  and  left.  His 
directions  were  confused.  Far  down  in  the 
forest  he  paused  before  one  of  the  branch- 
ings, wondering  if  this  were  the  way,  and  in 
the  silence  he  heard  wheels  and  waited.  The 
tread  of  the  team  was  slow.  He  could  hear 
the  creaking  of  the  wheels,  the  joltings  of  a 
farm  wagon  and  a  boy's  voice,  fresh  and 
clear,  urging  on  the  horses.  Over  and  above 
it  all  was  the  low  resonant  song  of  the  pines 
and  of  the  bare  branches  of  the  forest  trees, 
and  the  sound  of  dead  leaves  rustling  in  the 
wind;  and  for  a  moment  the  young  man's 
mood  was  in  sympathy  with  the  mood  of 
nature,  sad  and  solemn,  there  in  the  heart 
of  the  woods  in  the  hush  of  a  November 
day.  Then  the  wagon  came  in  sight. 
159 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"Hello!"  he  called  out  cheerily,  "is  this 
the  way  to  Mr.  Carroll's?" 

"  Yes !  "  cried  the  boy,  "drive  straight  ahead 
until  you  get  to  the  big  pine  tree ;  there  are 
right  many  turns  and  wood  roads  in  there ; 
you  'd  better  let  me  go  first" 

"  Going  this  way  ? " 

The  boy  nodded.  Lawson  pulled  out  of 
the  road  and  the  boy  drove  abreast  of  him. 
He  had  a  wagon-load  of  dead  branches  he 
had  been  gathering  up  through  the  woods. 
He  reined  in  to  say,  "  Mr.  Carroll  is  my 
father." 

Lawson  looked  his  friendly  interest. 

"  I  Ve  been  getting  wood  for  the  kitchen 
stove ;  it  burns  better  than  the  green  wood," 
the  boy  volunteered  by  way  of  conversation 
as  he  drove  ahead. 

Suddenly  Lawson  called  to  him,  "Your 
cousin  is  staying  with  you  ?  " 

The  boy  standing  on  the  board  in  front 
of  the  wagon,  the  reins  in  his  hands,  looked 
back,  "Who?  "he  called. 

"  Miss  Holloway !  "  shouted  Lawson. 

"  She  was;  she  'sgone ;  went  this  morning." 
160 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

For  one  moment  Lawson  sat  speechless. 
He  saw  the  dark  vistas  of  the  wood,  the 
desolate  road,  the  bare  trees  and  whirling 
leaves  and  thin  undergrowth.  Then  he 
felt  he  must  speak, "  When,  did  you  say?" 
dully. 

"  This  morning ! " 

"  Did  she  expect  to  go  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes !  Whoa !  whoa ! "  the  horses 
hurrying  for  stable  and  supper,  now  that 
they  were  set  on  the  homeward  way,  were 
starting  off.  "  Come  on  !  " 

"  I  don't  believe  I  will,"  called  Lawson 
after  him,  striving  to  collect  himself  and 
not  to  seem  the  fool  he  felt  himself  to  be. 
"  I  was  going  down  the  country,"  he 
called,  "  and  I  thought  I  would  stop  and 
see  her.  I  '11  go  on,"  he  bawled  after  the 
fast  disappearing  wagon,  "  as  she 's  not 
there." 

It  was  a  half  hour  later  that,  drawing  rein 
in  the  deserted  road  —  he  had  been  too  proud 
and  too  stingingly  hurt  to  turn  short  on  his 
way  —  the  dusk  of  night  settling  over  the 
country,  an  indescribable  air  of  dreariness 
"  161 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

with  it,  he  suddenly  remembered  he  had 
not  asked  where  she  was  gone. 

She  was  not  at  home,  he  was  sure  of 
that,  when  he  began  to  reason  it  out,  and 
he  would  not  ask  that  wretched  old  negro 
again,  he  was  sure  of  that,  also ;  though 
Susan,  when  he  glimpsed  her,  was  innocently 
friendly.  He  would  find  out  and  he  would 
wait.  Meanwhile  he  settled  down  to  grim 
work  at  law  and  at  football;  practice  was 
heavy  again  and  the  Thanksgiving  game 
was  booked  for  Richmond.  The  University 
men  would  play  against  the  North  Carolina 
boys  from  Wake-Forest. 

He  heard  nothing  but  the  games  talked 
of  everywhere.  A  special  train  was  to  take 
the  team  and  their  friends  down.  The 
Beauty  was  going  and  many  other  young 
women  of  the  neighborhood.  He  learned 
it  was  one  of  the  events,  social  as  well  as 
athletic,  of  the  year.  Theatre  parties  were 
being  formed  by  those  who  would  stay  a  day 
or  two  of  the  holidays  there;  plans  for  sight- 
seeing and  drives  and  visits  were  being 
made;  and  Lawson,  in  the  current  whether 
162 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

he  wished  it  or  not,  heard  yet  no  word  of 
Frances.  Still  the  house  looked  blank  and 
empty,  still  he  saw  the  professor  coming 
and  going  with  little  company  save  the 
tall,  fair  young  fellow  Susan  had  named  to 
him. 

Finally,  coming  along  the  corridor  one  day 
as  he  passed  the  professor's  house,  Mr.  Hol- 
lo way  hurried  out. 

The  impulse  was  irresistible.  Lawson 
doffed  his  cap,  held  out  his  hand.  The 
professor  paused  on  his  doorstep. 

Lawson  talked  hurriedly  of  the  weather, 
of  college  affairs;  finally  for  very  desperate 
fear  that  the  professor  would  go  and  his 
chance  be  lost,  he  blurted  "  Miss  Frances  is 
away  ?  " 

"Yes!" 

"  You  must  miss  her  very  much." 

Her  father  smiled  a  little  sadly,  "  I  am 
not  used  to  doing  without  her,"  he  said 
whimsically. 

"  Where  is  she  ?  "  Lawson  could  hear  the 
heavy  throb  of  his  heart  when  the  question 
had  been  put. 


A   GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

"  In  Richmond,"  the  professor  answered, 
as  if  it  were  quite  a  question  without  special 
interest  to  any  one.  "  Good-day!  "  he  added 
as  he  looked  at  his  watch, "  I  'm  due  !  Come 
and  see  me,  some  time ! " 

The  professor  had  been  touched  by  the 
anxious  air  of  the  man  and  set  it  down  to 
diffidence.  He  wished  the  students  would 
not  show  that  awe  of  him.  None  of  them 
knew  how  friendly  he  would  like  to  be ;  but 
he  was  studying,  working,  reading,  dream- 
ing, all  the  while.  He  dwelt  in  a  world 
of  abstractions  and  carried  the  atmosphere 
with  him.  It  was  an  alien  atmosphere  and 
kept  him  apart. 

"  Richmond !  "  said  the  young  man  to  him- 
self. "  Richmond ! "  he  could  have  shouted. 
His  boot  heels  rang  it  in  the  pavement,  his 
pulses  throbbed  it.  "  Richmond,"  and  they 
were  going  there  to-morrow.  He  rushed  to 
his  room,  threw  down  his  books,  and  began 
singing:  — 

"  Gayly  the  Troubadour  touched  his  guitar 
As  he  was  hastening  home  from  the  war, 
Singing  in  search  of  thee  fain  would  I  roam, 
Lady  love,  lady  love  —  " 
164 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"Hello!  What's  the  matter  with  you?" 
called  some  one  through  the  door  he  had 
forgotten  to  close  tightly,  "  it 's  time  for 
practice." 

"  I'm  getting  ready;  come  in  and  wait." 

The  man  entered.  They  had  not  been  re- 
ceiving many  invitations  to  Lawson's  rooms 
lately. 

"What's  the  matter  with  you?"  he  re- 
peated as  he  leaned  against  the  mantel. 
"  Good  news  ?  " 

"  Sure !"  cried  Lawson,  slipping  his  sweater 
over  his  head. 

The  young  fellow  leaning  against  the 
mantel,  though  he  was  clad  in  full  toggery 
of  padded  trousers  and  sweater  and  socks 
showing  the  University  colors  gaudily,  was 
yet  no  comparison  for  Lawson,  and  they 
both  knew  it.  Lawson  was  far  and  away 
the  best-looking  man  on  the  eleven.  The 
very  garb  served  to  show  his  fine  physique 
and  animal  beauty,  and  with  this  look  of 
flushed  pleasure  and  full  life  — 

"  Come  on,"  growled  the  visitor ;  "  you  Ve 
primped  enough  ! " 

165 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Primped !    You  saw  me,  did  n't  you  ?  " 
"  Well,  you  Ve  got  your  clothes  on ;  come 
on!" 

Lawson  ran  his  arm  through  his  visitor's 
arm  and  they  went  singing  across  the  quad- 
rangle — 

"  Hark  't  was  the  Troubadour,  breathing  her  name : 
Under  the  battlement  softly  he  came ; 
Singing  '  from  Palestine,  hither  I  come  ; 
Lady  love,  lady  love,  welcome  me  home.'  " 


166 


XII 

AS  the  train  rocked  down  the  moun- 
tain-side next  day,  past  tobacco- 
fields  stripped  bare,  and  orchards 
where  no  red  fruit  shone,  and  fields  now 
brown  and  sere,  and  as  it  sped  over  the  low 
country,  Lawson  had  one  thought.  He  would 
see,  when  the  train  pulled  into  Richmond, 
somewhere  in  the  throng  about  the  station 
Frances'  bright  face  and  serene  shining  eyes. 
She  would  be  there  with  those  of  the  city 
who  came  to  welcome  them.  The  travellers 
laughed  and  jested,  sang  and  cheered  and 
yelled,  Lawson  with  them,  his  heart  light  as 
a  boy's ;  but  all  of  this  outward  atmosphere 
was  like  a  dream  to  him,  —  the  reality  was  the 
vision  he  saw  of  a  girl's  face.  He  was  first 
out  of  the  coach.  His  eager  eyes  searched 
the  crowd.  In  all  the  press  was  not  one 
face  he  knew.  He  was  half  resentful  when 
he  was  hurried  away,  and  glum  and  silent  in 
the  midst  of  the  joyful  hubbub  around  him. 
167 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

Then  he  pulled  himself  together ;  she  was 
out  on  the  grounds,  of  course.  When  the 
game  began,  his  inattention  and  wretched 
play  fairly  lost  the  day,  until  the  wrath  of 
the  captain  called  and  kept  him  to  the  work 
in  hand.  He  stayed  the  night  in  Richmond, 
went  to  the  play,  loitered  about  the  shopping 
streets  next  day,  and  saw  only  strangers  or 
those  who  had  come  down  from  the  moun- 
tains with  them. 

Late  that  afternoon,  tired,  disgusted,  self- 
scornful,  he  took  a  train  for  home.  When 
he  passed  the  professor's  house  he  saw  a 
beam  of  light  shine  out  on  the  quadrangle 
on  a  spot  where  no  gleam  had  shone  fof 
many  a  night. 

He  walked  deliberately  out  on  the  sward 
and  looked  up.  He  cared  not  who  saw  him 
or  who  chaffed  him,  and  a  University  man 
has  to  order  his  life  with  care  if  he  wishes  it 
not  to  become  a  burden  to  him.  Fortu- 
nately it  was  late,  and  there  were  no  men 
about  corridor  or  campus.  He  stood  watch- 
ing; it  might  be  the  old  negress  there  for  all 
he  knew. 

1 68 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

The  curtains  were  pulled  aside,  the  case- 
ment opening  on  the  balcony  was  flung  open, 
and  a  tall  supple  figure  stood  outlined  sharply 
against  the  flood  of  light  behind  her.  His 
heart  seemed  pulsing  in  his  throat  and  chok- 
ing him.  Then  Frances  stepped  lightly  out 
on  the  porch  and  began  to  unfasten  the 
heavy  shutters  from  the  clasps  holding  them 
back  to  the  brick  wall. 

He  walked  quickly  across  till  he  stood 
under  the  balcony's  edge;  the  vine  climbing 
the  pillar  was  bare,  its  dry  branches  rustling 
in  the  night  wind. 

11  Frances ! "  he  called  softly. 

There  was  no  answer,  and  he  heard  a  light 
footstep  across  the  porch  and  a  rattling  at 
the  other  shutter. 

"  Miss  Holloway !  "  he  called  distinctly. 

14  Who  is  there  ?     Where  —  " 

The  voice  called  again  ;  she  leaned  over 
the  railing  and  saw  a  tall  figure  below  loom- 
ing in  the  star-lit  dusk.  "  Who  is  it  ? "  she 
asked,  a  quick  catch  in  her  breath. 

"  Do  you  not  know  me  ?  "  reproachfully. 

"  Mr.  Lawson  ?  "  the  voice  was  low  and  full, 
169 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

and  the  intonation  gracefully  easy,  with  the 
old  ring  of  cheer  in  it.  Hard  riding,  hard 
thinking,  hot  scorning,  and  firm  resolving  had 
made  many  changes  in  Frances;  best  of  all 
it  had  restored  her  old  manner  of  gay  ease. 

"  Where  have  you  been  ?  "  questioned  the 
voice  below. 

"  Ever  so  many  places." 

"  When  did  you  come  back  ?  "  If  there  was 
any  tender  reproach  in  the  voice,  the  young 
woman  up  there  did  not  heed  it. 

"  Yesterday." 

Yesterday!  when  he  was  searching  for  her, 
longing  for  her,  —  and  she  was  here.  "  Why 
did  n't  you  stay  for  the  game  ?  " 

"  I  could  n't ;  I  am  expecting  some  friends 
from  Richmond.  I  had  to  come  home  and 
see  that  Susan  had  the  house  in  order." 

There  was  a  second's  silence.  The  young 
man  below  stood  motionless:  "  I  want  to  see 
you,"  he  said  firmly. 

"  Can't  you  ?     What  a  pity  it 's  so  dark !  " 

"  To-morrow  ?  " 

"  I  shall  not  have  a  minute's  time." 

"  Soon  ?  "  he  insisted. 
170 


A    GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

*  Of  course !  "  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  no 
consequence  whatever. 

"  I  shall  expect  to,"  and  then  there  was 
silence  again. 

"  I  am  glad  you  won ! "  called  the  girl. 
"Good  night!" 

"  Oh,  yes,  we  won ! "  he  said,  a  trifle  bitterly, 
as  he  strode  away. 

Frances  leaned  faintly  against  the  rail.  It 
was  over,  the  moment  she  had  dreaded  un- 
speakably, and  she  was  in  her  rightful  place 
again.  She  knew  it ;  she  blessed  the  night 
whose  darkness  had  given  her  assurance. 
She  blessed  the  unexpected  meeting  when 
there  was  no  time  for  awkward  confusion. 
She  tapped  her  finger-tips  on  the  rail  and 
smiled  to  herself  as  she  stood  there,  but  the 
icy  touch  of  the  frost  already  forming  roused 
her  to  a  sense  of  the  cold  and  chill.  She 
hurried  in,  locked  the  shutters  and  then 
went  running  down  the  stairs. 

"Father,"  she  said  with  a  happy  laugh, 
11  father,  I  am  so  glad  to  be  at  home."  She 
leaned  over  his  chair  and  put  her  arms  about 
his  neck. 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Are  you  ?  "  there  was  a  sparkle  of  joy  in 
the  professor's  dark  eyes  ;  "  so  am  I ! "  He 
slipped  his  arm  about  her  and  pulled  her 
down  on  the  arm  of  the  chair.  "  You  must  n't 
run  away  again ;  I  don't  know  what  to  do 
without  you ;  you  must  never  run  away  again, 
too  far!" 

Lawson,  though  he  was  not  given  to  poeti- 
cal comparisons,  was  remembering  with  keen 
pain  the  first  hour  when  he  stood  beneath 
the  balcony  and  Frances  had  talked  with 
him.  It  was  morning  then,  it  was  night 
now;  the  sunlight  was  in  the  sky,  only  the 
cold  stars  now;  she  had  come  down  to  him 
blithely  that  warm,  bright  day  when  the 
world  was  a  flood  of  sunshine  and  color ;  he 
had  gone  alone  now,  and  it  was  cold  and 
dark,  and  the  color  had  drifted  from  the  out- 
side world  and  the  joy  from  his  heart. 


172 


XIII 

ABOUT   five   o'clock    the    next   day, 
Lawson,  from  sheer  restlessness,  was 
one  of  a  crowd  of  University  men 
waiting  on  the  platform  of  the  station  in  the 
ravine  for  the  trains  from  the  west  and  south 
already  due ;  chaffing,  singing,  laughing,  guy- 
ing, cheering,  they  were  waiting,  according 
to   the  daily  custom  of  a  holiday  hour,  for 
whatever   fun   the    arriving  coaches    might 
furnish. 

The  electric  arcs  swung  white  light  up 
and  down  the  station,  the  smoke  of  a  side- 
tracked freight  hung  low  and  heavy  in  the 
valley,  the  teams  of  the  afternoon  drivers 
were  rattling  across  the  high  bridge,  their 
occupants  looking  with  laughing  interest  on 
the  scene  below.  Suddenly  with  shriek  and 
roar  the  Southern  train  was  in. 

"  Vir  —  gin  —  i—  a." 

"  Vir  —  gin  —  i  —  a." 
173 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"Rah  — rah  — rah!" 

The  men  gave  a  great  yell.  A  young  girl 
in  one  of  the  coaches  flung  up  a  window  and 
looked  out. 

"Rah  — rah  — rah!" 

The  young  girl  snapped  down  the  win- 
dow. Another  face,  curious  and  likewise 
pretty,  showed  at  the  pane.  The  young  men 
were  wildly  enthusiastic. 

"Vir  —  gin  —  i  —  a." 

"  Vir — gin  —  i  —  a —  "  The  yell  drowned 
all  other  sounds,  and  Lawson  was  astonished 
to  see,  as  it  ended,  Frances  springing  from 
her  trap  a  few  yards  away  and  hastening 
forward.  The  conductor  waited  gallantly  at 
the  steps  of  one  of  the  coaches,  the  porter 
came  down  another  flight,  laden  with  bun- 
dles, and  at  the  door,  their  cheeks  showing 
red  with  suppressed  fun  and  excitement  be- 
hind their  veils,  appeared  the  two  pretty 
young  women. 

"  Vir  —  gin  —  i  —  a  — ."  The  yell  died 
away  as  the  men  saw  the  professor's  daughter 
greeting  the  arrivals  with  laughing  welcome. 
They  fell  to  guying  each  other  mercilessly. 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

But  Lawson,  standing  not  far  away,  came  at 
once  to  Frances'  assistance. 

"  Let  me  help  you  !  "  He  reached  for 
some  of  the  bundles. 

"  Oh,  thank  you !  Mr.  Lawson,  these  are 
my  Richmond  friends,  Miss  Rowan,  Mr. 
Lawson!  Miss  Martin!" 

The  young  women  held  out  their  gloved 
hands  and  Lawson  welcomed  them  impres- 
sively. He  assisted  them  into  the  trap  with 
careful  gallantry,  the  strangers,  both  of  them, 
in  the  back  seat,  the  packages  stored  at  their 
feet.  Frances  was  subduing  the  antics  of 
Starlight,  who  after  standing  quietly  when 
there  was  need,  took  occasion  to  seem 
shocked  at  the  engine  now  that  his  driver 
was  in  place  and  he  felt  the  touch  of  the 
reins  on  his  bit,  and  to  stand  protestingly  on 
his  hind  feet  and  paw  the  air. 

The  strangers  were  frightened.  "  Can  you 
manage  him,  Frances  ?  "  cried  one. 

11  Oh,  let  me  get  out !  "  the  other  pleaded. 

"  We  '11  come  up  on  the  street  car !  "  Miss 
Rowan  declared,  white  with  fear. 

"Sit  still!"  commanded  Frances,  shortly. 
175 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

44  Come  down,  Starlight !  behave  yourself !  " 
she  reached  for  the  whip. 

"  Don't  strike  him  !  There  's  no  telling 
what  he  would  do ! "  begged  the  visitors. 
Lawson,  near,  stalwart  and  interested,  seemed 
a  godsend. 

"  Do  come  with  us ! "  pleaded  Elizabeth 
Martin,  who  in  all  emergencies  turned  to  the 
nearest  man. 

"  There  's  no  need,"  he  began.  Starlight 
had  all  fours  on  solid  earth  once  more. 

"  Jump  in  !  "  laughed  Frances,  nodding  to 
the  empty  seat;  she  pulled  Starlight  around, 
waited  a  second  for  Lawson  to  get  in,  and 
then  came  down  sharply  on  Starlight's  flank 
with  the  whip.  The  horse  made  a  plunge, 
straight  for  the  platform,  the  men  scattered 
right  and  left,  and  Starlight  went  snorting 
up  the  winding  road  to  the  street  above. 

"  Let  Mr.  Lawson  drive !  "  besought  Miss 
Martin. 

Frances  looked  laughingly  at  the  young 

man   beside   her.     That   other   opportunity 

and  this  were  all  she  could  have  wished  to 

put  them  on  a  commonplace  footing.     The 

176 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

old  position  and  power  and  knowledge  to 
hold  her  own,  were  all  she  wished  for.  Law- 
son  looking  into  the  clear,  gray  eyes  felt  a 
thrill  of  gratitude  for  the  fortune  which  had 
befriended  him. 

Still,  her  answer  may  have  held  some  hid- 
den meaning  for  him,  for  he  flushed  a  little 
when  he  heard  it.  "  I  prefer  to  hold  my  own 
reins  myself," she  said  carelessly;  "you  know 
I  never  would  stand  much  managing." 

Lawson  turned  to  talk  to  the  young  wo- 
men behind  him ;  so,  he  could  watch  fur- 
tively Frances'  face  and  her  cheek  where  the 
rose  hue  flickered,  the  white  in  the  midst 
of  it. 

The  streets  were  filled  with  the  afternoon 
crowd,  students  in  groups  or  alone,  young 
women,  older  women,  children ;  fancy  turn- 
outs and  farmers'  wagons,  high  carts,  and 
heavy  low  ones  filled  with  cordwood,  young 
women  in  short  skirts  and  heavy  boots, 
young  women  in  all  the  finery  of  new  fall 
clothes  and  furs,  loitering  by  the  houses  set 
flush  upon  the  street,  or  by  box-hedged  gar- 
dens, the  houses  far  back,  or  by  smooth  lawns. 
la  .  ,77 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

The  crowd  was  dense,  but  through  it 
Frances  glimpsed  Edward  Montague.  He 
had  seen  her  a  minute  earlier  and  was  watch- 
ing her  wistfully,  with  a  keen  pang  at  his 
heart  that  now  when  he  had  seen  her  first 
for  so  long  a  time,  she  should  be  one  of  a 
gay  party  with  that  handsome  young  fellow 
at  her  side.  She  drew  rein,  soon  as  she  saw 
him,  and  Edward  hurried  out  to  her. 

"  So  glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Montague ! " 
She  leaned  and  gave  him  her  hand.  "  Let 
me  introduce  you  !  "  She  named  the  young 
women.  "  You  know  Mr.  Lawson  ?  " 

"  Happy  to  have  that  pleasure !  "  said 
Lawson  stiffly,  remembering  Susan's  words. 

"  You  must  come  and  see  us ! "  with  a 
backward  glance  to  her  guests. 

"  I  shall.  I  have  just  been  out  to  your 
house." 

"You  have?" 

"  I  met  your  father  at  the  post-office  ;  he 
told  me  you  were  home ! " 

"And  forgot  I  was  going  to  the  sta- 
tion?" 

"  He  did  not  mention  it,  but,"  quickly  as  if 
178 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

in  defence  of  his  absent  friend,    "  I  left  him 
waiting  for  you  at  home." 

"  We  will  hurry  then ;  good-by ! " 
"Good-by!"     He  did  not  add  that  the 
professor  had  insisted  on  his  return,  and  that 
he  had  accepted,  but  he  carried  with  him  a 
happy  consciousness  of  the  fact. 

Frances  had  the  same  cordial  invitation 
for  Lawson,  when  they  parted.  She  knew 
well  that  the  young  city  women  visiting  the 
University  in  the  middle  of  the  term  ex- 
pected a  good  time,  and  a  good  time  chiefly 
along  one  line.  So  while  the  professor  was 
welcoming  them  in  the  hall,  she  lingered  on 
the  doorstep. 

"You  must  help  me  make  them  enjoy 
their  visit,"  she  said,  knowing  she  could  not 
ask  a  better  aide. 

"  I  will,  I  shall  be  delighted ! "  answered 
Lawson  fervidly. 
"  And  bring  your  friends ! " 
"  I  shall  bring  them  this  evening." 
"I   wonder — Elizabeth,    Mary,   are    you 
very  tired?"  she  called  through  the  open 
door. 

'79 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Not  a  bit ! "  they  chorussed. 

"  Very  well  —  this  evening !  "  She  gave 
him  her  hand.  He  stood  a  little  to  the  side 
of  the  step  and  they  were  out  of  sight 
through  the  half-opened  door.  He  held  her 
hand  closely  and  looked  straight  in  her  eyes, 
questioningly,  compellingly,  but  Frances 
looked  back  calmly  and  carelessly,  and 
wrenched  herself  free.  "  Good-by !  "  she 
called  from  the  door. 

Lawson  went  on  to  his  room  and  threw 
himself  moodily  into  the  chair  before  the 
fire.  It  was  smouldering.  He  punched  it 
viciously  and  banged  the  blower  over  it. 

"  Beastliest  way  of  heating  a  fellow's  room 
I  ever  saw ! "  he  grumbled,  "  I  vow  I  '11  freeze 
before  mid-winter!" 

He  slipped  into  his  smoking-jacket,  turned 
on  the  glare  of  the  light,  pulled  table  and 
Morris  chair  before  the  fire,  and  sat  down, 
book  in  hand,  to  some  pretence  of  study,  but 
other  cases  than  legal  thronged  his  mind. 
He  flung  the  note-book  on  the  table, 
wrenched  off  the  blower,  and  then,  with  a 
half  sigh  of  content  at  the  blazing  coals  in 
180 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

the  grate,  he  sank  back  in  his  chair.  He 
watched  the  flicker  of  the  flames  in  the 
chimney's  mouth  ;  yellow  and  white  and  red 
and  violet,  the  tongues  of  burning  gas 
flared  up  the  rough,  black  chimney's  mouth, 
and  the  coals  below  glowed  red  and  redder. 
But  Lawson,  looking  at  them  dreamingly, 
was  seeing  the  way  he  must  go,  and  was 
growing  stronger  in  his  determination. 

He  would  win  her,  yes !  He  had  begun 
merely  as  a  diversion  from  the  study  he 
sometimes  liked  and  sometimes  disliked, 
sometimes  dreamed  to  win  fame  through 
and  sometimes  was  intolerantly  impatient  of, 
counting,  in  a  bitter  moment,  nothing  worth 
effort. 

He  had  begun,  too,  by  draping  traditions 
about  Frances,  every  one  of  which,  she  had 
freed  herself  from  ;  and  he  had  ended  by  un- 
questioning acceptance  of  the  fact  that  this 
woman,  puzzling  beyond  his  ken,  was  the 
one  thing  of  the  hour  he  desired. 

The    memory    of     Susan's     words    only 
strengthened    his    obstinacy.      The    shield 
Frances  kept  about  her,  thin  as  gauze,  im- 
181 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

penetrable  as  steel,  which  he  had  fended 
aside  once  and  once  again,  but  made  his 
fight  the  more  interesting.  He  had  no  fault 
to  find  at  any  point  of  the  situation,  —  only 
a  wild  impatience  that  he  should  have  been 
thrust  back  when  he  felt  attainment  within 
his  grasp. 


XIV 

WITH  the  advent  of  visitors  the  pro- 
fessor's house  became  the  centre 
of  gayety  in  the  quadrangle.     The 
women  of  the  other  households  were  glad  to 
show  friendliness  to  the  young  girl,  in  whom 
they  felt    a  warm    interest,   but  who  had 
seemed   in   her  content   to    need   no  one. 
Visits   and    invitations,   drives   and    supper 
parties  transformed  the  quiet  household. 

The  professor  made  one  stand  for  himself. 
Susan  had  asked  for  a  scullion  and  named 
a  boy,  who  was  promptly  engaged.  "  And, 
Susan,"  the  professor  had  commanded,  "  see 
that  he  keeps  a  good  fire  in  the  parlor;  show 
every  one  who  calls  in  there.  Leave  the  li- 
brary undisturbed." 

"  I   must  have  some  peace ! M  added    the 

professor  to  himself,  who  found  this  whirl  a 

trial,  but  endured  it  for  Frances'  sake.     For 

Frances   seemed   to   thoroughly  enjoy  this 

183 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

dispensing  of  hospitality;  she  planned  gay- 
eties  far  ahead.  She  accepted  and  returned 
the  invitations  from  their  neighbors.  She 
spent  hours  in  the  kitchen  while  her  guests 
were  dispatched  on  pleasures,  and  fought  Su- 
san's wrath  for  each  of  those  hours.  There 
was  no  idle  moment  when  accusing  thoughts 
might  sting,  or  when  some  seeker  for  such 
opportunity  would  find  her  alone. 

Lawson,  he  scarcely  knew  how,  was  made 
the  special  attendant  of  the  visitors;  and 
though  he  was  restless  and  chafing,  and 
keenly  watchful  for  his  chances,  he  yet  en- 
joyed the  gay  expeditions  and  the  presence 
of  the  pretty,  fun-loving  young  women. 

Montague,  when  he  came,  was  warmly 
welcomed  and  made  one  of  them ;  but  it  was 
a  busy  season  on  the  farm ;  he  was  kept  away 
enough  to  have  something  of  the  feeling  of 
an  outsider  and  to  see  the  things  one  from 
the  outside  sees.  He  was  vaguely  conscious 
of  a  troubled  atmosphere,  and  he  saw,  too, 
what  no  one  else  did,  that  there  was  a 
feverish  restlessness  about  Frances  and  a 
constant  guarded  effort  at  control.  His  in- 
184 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

stinctive  thought  of  her  warned  him  that  in 
spite  of  her  apparent  blitheness  she  needed 
befriending.  He  was  constantly  alert  for 
her,  constantly  watchful.  Whenever  he  was 
with  them  Frances  felt,  somehow,  helped 
and  more  at  peace  with  herself.  So  for  the 
allotted  time  of  the  visit.  The  days  had 
nearly  sped  by  when  Frances  found  the  pro- 
fessor one  morning  gathering  up  his  books 
and  papers  for  the  day's  lectures. 

The  contrast  between  the  quiet  room, 
lined  with  bookshelves,  the  grave,  scholarly 
man  standing  there  by  the  paper-littered 
table,  and  the  room  across  the  hall,  from 
which  floated  the  sound  of  chatter  and 
laughter,  smote  the  professor's  daughter 
keenly. 

"  Does  all  this  visiting  and  calling  and 
confusion  bother  you  ? "  she  asked,  as  she 
slipped  her  hand  through  his  arm  and  ran 
her  soft  palm  childishly  up  and  down  the 
heavy  wool  of  his  sleeve. 

"  Not  at  all ! "  The  professor  looked  lov- 
ingly into  the  eyes  of  his  daughter,  who  was 
as  tall  as  he  was- 

185 


\ 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

''  Because,"  she  went  on  whimsically, 
"  they  are  going  to  stay  longer !  "  She  made 
a  pretence  of  holding  her  breath. 

The  professor  thought  of  the  loved  quiet 
of  his  home  and  the  still  more  loved 
comradeship  of  his  daughter,  and  was  silent 

"  I  don't  think  it 's  altogether  on  my 
account,"  added  Frances  demurely. 

The  professor  chuckled.  "  I  don't  think 
it  is ! "  he  replied. 

"  They  are  enjoying  their  visit." 

"  So  it  seems  ! "  And  then,  after  a  short 
silence,  "  Are  you  enjoying  it  also  ?  * 

"  I  ?     Of  course  !  " 

"  Then  it 's  all  right! "  He  slipped  a  rub- 
ber band  about  his  papers  and  laid  them  on 
his  books.  "  I  drove  out  to  young  Mon- 
tague's yesterday,"  he  said  to  his  daughter, 
standing  idly  before  the  fire.  Frances  had. 
found  so  few  moments  alone  with  her  fathei 
lately  that  she  was  making  the  most  of 
these. 

"  It 's  dreary  out  there,"  the  professor  com- 
plained ;  "  these  winter  days  are  going  to  be 
hard  for  him." 

186 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Don't  worry !  I  Ve  never  seen  a  man 
less  inclined  to  be  doleful!" 

"  Do  you  think  so,"  said  the  professor 
eagerly,  "  now,  lately  he  has  n't  seemed  so  — 
so  bright  as  he  used  to  be.  I  thought  per- 
haps he  was  finding  it  lonely.  He  is  an 
excellent  farmer,  do  you  know,"  he  said 
with  sudden  enthusiasm,  "he  has  sold 
enough  wood  off  the  place  to  pay  half  of 
the  cost  of  it" 

-  Oh !  what  a  pity  1 " 

"Pity!" 

"  The  hills  will  look  so  bare ;  I  shall  always 
remember  the  beautiful  forest  sweeping  up 
to  the  mountain  tops." 

"  Oh !  the  wood  will  be  cut  far  up  the 
range  and  there  is  enough  about  there  for 
the  country  not  to  suffer  for  the  want  of  it. 
We  went  over  it  together." 

"Then  I  know  it  is  all  right!"  teased 
Frances. 

"  He 's  working  too  hard,"  the  professor 
went  on,  keeping  to  the  topic  in  which  he 
was  so  keenly  interested. 

"  You  know  this  is  a  busy  season ;  after  a 
187 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

while  he  can  rest.  You  know  what  you 
often  say,  winter  is  the  farmer's  holiday." 

"  Yes,  but  shut  up  out  there !  I  must 
send  him  some  books."  Frances  watched 
in  amusement  as  her  father  went  to  the 
shelves  where  his  light  literature  was  kept. 
"  Pope's  Iliad,"  he  said  thoughtfully,  "  read 
it  in  the  original  of  course ;  Herodotus, 
I  wonder  how  much  Greek  he  knows ;  Car- 
lyle,  hm !  Drummond,  that  will  make  him 
think  at  least  —  What  ?  "  for  Frances  was 
leaning  against  his  shoulder  and  was  laugh- 
ing. 

"  What  do  you  like  yourself  when  you  are 
idle  or  half  sick,  when  there 's  a  good  hot 
fire  to  read  and  dream  before  ?  " 

The  professor  reddened  with  conscience- 
stricken  remembrance  of  a  pile  of  paper- 
bound  novels  in  the  attic.  "  Get  him  some- 
thing yourself,  then!" 

"I  will!" 

"  I  dare  say  he  will  like  it  better,"  retorted 

her  father,  who,  blind  to  Lawson's  attentions, 

had  begun  to  suspicion  Montague's,  and  to 

think  with  a  half-pleased  apprehension  that 

188 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

it  might  be  a  desirable  thing  for  some  far- 
off  day. 

Frances  was  about  to  answer  when  the 
bell  rang  insistently. 

"  Good  Lord  !  "  groaned  the  professor. 

"  I  don't  think  it  is  a  visitor,"  soothed 
Frances.  "  What  is  it,  Susan?  " 

The  old  woman  came  briskly  into  the 
room.  "  I  dunno !  Some  sassy  niggah  jes' 
poked  dis  box  at  me  an'  run  off."  Susan  was 
always  ready  to  find  fault  with  the  manners 
of  the  rising  generation ;  she  put  the  box 
down  gingerly  just  on  the  professor's  papers. 

"  Here ! "  he  snatched  it  up  and  set  it 
forcibly  on  the  hearth.  "  Flowers !  And  the 
thing  is  wet!  " 

Frances,  delighted,  knelt  by  the  box. 
"Miss  Frances  Hollo  way,"  she  read;  "give 
me  your  knife !  Oh !  "  for  the  top  wrenched 
off  disclosed  a  sheaf  of  chrysanthemums, 
white  and  yellow,  and  a  card,  "  Mr.  Frank 
Lawson." 

"  They  are  for  all,  of  course ! "  she  filled 
her  arms  with  them  and  got  to  her  feet. 
"Take  this  box  in  the  kitchen,  Susan." 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Wait !  "  her  father  called,  "  what  are  you 
going  to  do  to-day?" 

"  We  are  going  shopping  in  the  morning, 
and  there  is  a  tally-ho  party  to  Monticello 
this  afternoon." 

"  You  are  going  ?  " 

"  This  morning." 

"  And  this  afternoon  ?  " 

"  I  scarcely  think  I  shall  go.  I  have  been 
up  to  Monticello  so  often,  and  I  think  I  '11 
stay  at  home  and  make  a  cake." 

"  Why  don't  you  go,  Frances  ?  "  her  father 
protested. 

"  It  will  be  a  chocolate  cake,"  she  was 
laughing  at  him  over  the  sheaf  of  chrys- 
anthemums, "  and  you  shall  have  all  you 
want !  "  And  the  professor  was  disarmed. 

Some  one  else  had  noticed  this  same  ten- 
dency of  housekeeping.  When  Frances 
was  busily  beating  eggs  in  the  kitchen,  the 
bell  rang.  She  went  on  with  her  work  with- 
out a  thought  of  visitors,  for  the  tally-ho 
party  was  large  and  included  all  their 
friends,  the  younger  ones  at  least.  Susan 
had  gone  on  an  errand,  and  the  boy,  hurry- 
190 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

ing  carelessly  through  kitchen  and  dining- 
room  and  library,  left  each  door  open  as  he 
went  through. 

"  T  aint  no  one  home  but  Miss  Frances," 
he  said  to  the  young  man  on  the  door-step, 
14  and  she 's  busy  in  the  kitchen." 

The  young  man  went  past  him  into  the 
library;  through  the  doors  he  glimpsed 
Frances,  back  towards  him.  He  stepped 
out  of  the  line  of  vision,  "  Very  well ! "  he 
said  in  a  low  tone  to  the  boy  gaping  in  the 
doorway,  "  you  need  not  tell  her ;  I  '11 
announce  myself ! " 

The  boy,  green,  untrained,  as  Lawson 
knew  him  to  be,  hastened  on  through  the 
back  door  of  the  hall  to  his  work  at  the  wood- 
pile. Lawson  trod  softly  across  the  rooms. 
The  swift  beater  in  Frances'  hands  deafened 
her  ears  to  other  sounds.  He  came  close 
behind  her,  and  spoke  her  name  before  she 
knew  the  warm  sunny  kitchen  held  any 
but  herself. 

She  went  white  to  the  lips  with  fright. 
"  How  dare  you  ?  "  she  cried. 

Lawson  had  thought  of  some  flattering 
191 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

speech  to  appease  her ;  instead  his  anger 
flared  as  hot  as  hers.  "  Did  you  not  know  I 
would  dare  anything  ?  " 

The  piteous  red  flushing  over  the  pallor 
of  cheek  and  forehead  told  him  the  shot  had 
told  brutally. 

"  Did  you  not  know  I  would  dare  any- 
thing to  see  you  ? "  He  pleaded  conscience 
stricken  at  his  blunder.  "  I  asked  you,  I 
told  you,  the  night  you  came  home,  to  give 
me  an  opportunity  to  —  to  see  you." 

"  You  have !  "  she  flashed,  anger  once 
more  coming  to  her  aid. 

"  You  know  what  I  meant,  not  with  a 
crowd  about  you,  but  when  I  —  I  — you  have 
made  a  hedge  of  your  visitors,"  he  accused. 
It  was  exactly  what  she  had  done,  and  done 
wilfully.  "  You  knew  I  longed  to  see  you." 

Frances  rolled  down  her  shirt-sleeves  and 
buttoned  them  coolly.  "  Will  you  walk  into 
the  library  ?  "  she  asked  icily. 

"No!" 

"  I  did  not  know  you  were  fond   of   the 
kitchen.     Have  this  chair,"  pulling  Susan's 
low  flag  chair  beside  the  window. 
192 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

Lawson  took  it  from  her.  His  eyes  were 
red  with  wrath,  but  Frances  took  no  heed. 

"  Does  it  remind  you  of  home  ? "  went  on 
the  young  woman  sarcastically. 

"  God  forbid  ! "  he  blurted,  with  a  flashing 
memory  of  the  chef  presiding  there  in  the 
kitchen. 

The  calm  was  coming  back  to  Frances' 
manner;  she  felt  herself  yet  mistress.  "Sit 
down ;  I  will  show  you  what  a  Virginia 
kitchen  is  like.  1 11  bake  you  a  cake,"  she 
added,  with  a  saucy  air,  for  all  the  fear  that 
was  tugging  at  her  heart,  "  if  you  are  a  good 
boy." 

"  I  was  never  good  ! "  he  blazed. 

"  No,"  thoughtfully  ;  "  well,  it 's  good  to  be 
truthful.  I  '11  give  you  a  cake  for  that" 

"  I  want  none  of  your  cakes !  " 

Frances  opened  wide  her  innocent-seem- 
ing eyes,  though  her  lip  trembled. 

41 1  want  you !  " 

She  leaned  back  against  the  table's  edge 
as  he  came  close  to  her.     She  clenched  her 
hands,  striving  for  the  hot  words  she  wanted, 
which  would  not  come. 
n  193 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  I  love  you ;  you  know  it  —  " 

Her  eyes  flashed  blazing  denial. 

"  Will  you  marry  me  ?  " 

For  one  instant  heart  and  pulse  stopped. 
"  Marry  him  —  marry  him  —  "  All  her  fan- 
cies and  conclusions  were  whirling  in  her 
brain ;  flirtations,  of  which  she  had  accused 
him,  were  not  apt  to  go  so  far. 

"  You  know  how  I  love  you,  long  for  you. 
Why  have  you  kept  this  distance  between  us, 
Frances?"  He  put  his  hands  on  her  shoul- 
ders and  looked  down  into  her  drooping  face. 
"  You  will  be  my  wife  ?  "  but  at  that  word  a 
sudden  swift  memory  smote  him  icy  cold 
and  speechless.  Frances  looking  shyly  up 
thought  it  anxiety  for  her  answer.  Into  the 
gray  eyes  came  stealing,  flashing,  the  look 
he  had  dreamed  of,  had  resolved  to  kindle 
there  and  read,  himself  glorified  as  he  read. 
With  a  sob  in  his  breath  he  caught  her  to 
him.  "  Frances,"  he  began  hurriedly,  soon  as 
speech  would  come,  "there  is  something 
I  must  tell  you  now,  you  must  know  — " 
but  Frances,  covered  with  confusion,  was 
pulling  away  from  him.  She  had  heard 
194 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

Susan's  step  outside,  "  Susan  is  coming,"  she 
panted. 

Lawson  gave  her  one  passionate  look,  that 
hardened  into  triumphant  love  as  he  gazed 
deep  into  her  eyes.  "  So  be  it,"  he  said 
within  himself ;  "  I  accept ! " 

He  slipped  through  the  doors,  closing 
them  as  he  went.  When  Susan  came  into 
the  kitchen  he  was  softly  shutting  the  outer 
one.  He  went  triumphant.  For  one  in- 
stant the  joy  of  possession  had  fought  with  a 
deeper  and  higher  love,  but  desire  had  won. 


195 


XV 

THROUGH  the  hours  of  that  night 
Frances  heard  the  strong  north  wind 
about  the  house,  singing  the  song  of 
vibrant  trees  on  the  mountain-tops  or  the 
low  tones  of  the  rolling  hills  and  narrow  val- 
leys. All  night  she  knew  the  world  outside 
grew  cold  and  colder,  while  the  mist  clouds 
which  had  condensed  into  rain  in  the  early 
evening  were  swept  from  the  sky.  As  the 
fire  in  her  grate  burned  low  and  the  insis- 
tent wind  rattled  at  window  and  door  and 
blew  in  gusty  breaths  down  the  chimney's 
mouth,  the  furniture  contracting  and  snap- 
ping, made  weird  noises  which  mingled  with 
the  clashings  of  the  maples  on  the  quad- 
rangle. 

Whether  she  slept  or  whether  she  waked, 
it  was  the  same  mood  of  restless  excited  hap- 
piness.     It  seemed   but   a    reflection    of   it 
from  the  world  outside  when  she  flung  open 
196 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

her  heavy  shutters  in  the  morning  and  saw 
the  sky  clear  as  crystal,  bluish  green  at  its 
zenith  and,  over  above  the  houses  opposite, 
flushed  red  as  a  rose.  The  maples  rocked 
in  the  wind,  along  the  corridor  across  the 
way  the  shallow  rain  pools  in  the  worn  pave- 
ment had  turned  to  ice,  making  shimmer  and 
shine  but  perilous  footing.  The  wind  and 
the  rocking  and  the  singing  were  her  own 
restless  mood,  which  made  her  vibrant  to  a 
song  which  she  knew  not  for  joy  or  for  some 
feeling  yet  unnamable. 

It  was  not  wholly  joy,  for  her  first  thought 
of  others  struck  her  with  dismay.  Susan, 
before  she  had  dressed,  came  into  the  room, 
a  great  box  in  her  hands. 

11  Dat  boy  done  said  p'intidly  dis  time 
't  was  for  yuh.  He  low  dat  Mr.  Lawson  call 
Mr.  Cook  up  to  de  'phone  las'  night  an'  said 
as  how  dey  was  to  be  hyar  befor'  sun  up  dis 


morninV 


11  Oh !  "  cried  Frances  with  a  long  ecstatic 

sigh,  as  she  uncovered  the  sweet  red  roses  and 

buried    her   blushing  face  in  their  fragrant 

hearts,  "  how  beautiful,  how  sweet,  how  —  * 

197 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

—  "  thoughtful "  she  was  about  to  add,  when 
she  remembered  Susan  and  her  secret. 

But  Susan  could  read  the  tale  of  that  shy, 
sweet  delight  in  Frances'  face  and  her  own 
grew  more  anxious  and  wrinkled. 

"  Yuh  'd  bettah  hurry  up  an'  dress,"  she 
said,  grumpily.  "'Tis  nigh  upon  eight 
o'clock  and  yo'  pa  won't  eben  think  his 
breakfast  taste  good  if  yuh  is  n't  there."  It 
was  the  first  shot  she  could  think  of,  but  it 
told. 

Frances  laid  down  the  great  handful  of 
beauties  she  had  been  holding  ecstatically 
close  to  her  face.  "  I  will  be  down  in  a  mo- 
ment," she  said  soberly,  and,  then,  as  Susan 
still  lingered,  "  you  had  better  hurry  yourself 
and  see  that  everything  is  ready." 

As  she  brushed  the  rebellious  dark  hair 
into  the  waves  above  her  forehead  she  saw 
her  reflected  face  through  a  mist  of  tears ; 
once,  twice,  in  the  happy  evening  before,  the 
thought  of  her  father  had  come  like  a  stab 
through  the  joy  still  only  half  believed  in 
and  shyly  dreamed  of.  She  had  not  dared 
follow  that  thought  to  the  end.  It  would 
198 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

show  her  the  deep  sorrow  of  her  own  heart 
were  she  to  leave  him  to  live  her  life  many 
hundred  miles  away  amongst  people  and 
surroundings  not  of  his  kind  and  beyond  his 
ken ;  it  would  show  her,  what  was  harder 
still,  the  desolation  of  his  loneliness  without 
her.  She  could  not  face  it  yet,  but  must  put 
it  away  from  her  with  all  the  tremulous  un- 
certainties quivering  into  life  in  her  heart, 
and  must  live  in  the  moment. 

She  fastened  a  great  red  rose  in  her  dainty 
waist  and  then  picked  up  a  smaller  bud. 
"  This  is  for  you,"  she  declared,  as  she  has- 
tened into  the  library  before  the  breakfast 
bell  had  rung,  and  found  her  father  waiting 
a  trifle  impatiently  before  the  fire. 

So  it  was  that  a  young  man,  hurrying 
across  the  campus  in  gay  mood,  gave  a  start 
of  astonishment  when  he  met  the  professor, 
and  guessed  the  rose  in  his  coat  to  be  one  of 
those  he  had  dedicated  to  this  first  happy 
day  of  a  love  striven  for  against  long  odds 
and  won. 

It  was  not  the  better  part  of  him  that  had 
triumphed  the  day  before,  and  it  may  have 
199 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

been  the  fight  within  which  made  him  so 
readily  resentful  and  so  quick  to  show  it, 
when  he  paused  at  the  window  of  the  pro- 
fessor's house  to  greet  the  gay  trio  there. 
And  it  was  some  baser  part  of  him  which, 
when  he  read  Frances'  tell-tale  face,  the  faint 
flush,  the  droop  of  the  lids,  while  he  talked 
gayly  with  Elizabeth  Martin,  urged  him  to 
see  how  far  he  might  torment  her.  Having 
played  the  daring  game  once,  he  must  play 
it  again  and  again  in  the  few  short  stormy 
days  which  followed.  Prompted  by  some 
unknown  devil  within  him,  bred  of  the  fight 
which  he  lacked  the  courage  to  face  and  to 
decide,  he  must  watch  her  tell-tale  face  to 
see  how  he  had  aroused  feelings  Frances 
had  never  dreamed  of  and  hated  while  she 
suffered  them  —  must  laugh  and  talk  with 
Elizabeth  Martin  with  admiration  in  his 
eyes  and  flattery  on  his  lips,  and  to  see, 
meanwhile,  the  wonder  in  Frances*  eyes, 
and  the  pride  which  in  the  end  concealed 
it  —  must  seek,  at  last,  some  hour  alone 
with  her,  manoeuvre  for  that  hour,  and 
watch  the  resentment  she  disdained  to  name, 
200 


A   GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

die    away   beneath    the   magnetism    of    his 
love-making. 

Even  then  a  fierce  joy  ruled  him,  prompt- 
ing him  to  a  lavish  generosity  in  which  the 
whole  household  shared. 

"Ise  done  sick  o'  seein'  dat  flower  boy," 
declared  Susan,  savagely,  to  Frances,  in  a 
kitchen  interview.  "Sho'  as  de  brekkus  bell 
rings,  he  rings  de  nex',  an'  he's  gettin' 
sassy  as  if  he  run  de  whole  business  an* 
brung  'em  heself." 

Frances  only  laughed. 

"An'  if  yuh  eats  much  mo'  dat  candy 
layin'  erroun',  I  '11  be  plumb  scared  o'  yuh 
eatin'  yo'  vittles." 

"  You  shall  have  a  box  for  yourself,"  teased 
Frances. 

"  Me !  De  Lawd  knows  I  don't  want  none  ! 
I  'd  ruther  hab  one  o'  dem  plump  partridges 
Marse  Edward  brought  yestiddy  dan  all  de 
choclits  yuh  can  rake  and  scrape." 

"  You  shall  have  that,  too ;  broil  them  for 
supper." 

44  Who  's  gwine  be  hyar?  " 

44  No  one  but  us." 

201 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"Humph!  dyar'll  be  jes'  ernuff."  Susan 
was  not  going  to  serve  the  game  one  young 
man  had  taken  a  long  tramp  to  shoot,  for 
another  who  did  not  stand  so  high  in  her 
graces.  Young  Montague  had  been  in  the 
day  before. 

With  some  intuitive  understanding  of 
Frances,  her  excited  mood  and  Lawson's 
manner,  when  he  saw  them  together,  left 
him  desperately  anxious  and  heart-sick.  It 
was  a  story  he  could  not  read,  nor  the  actors 
themselves.  But  he  divined  that,  in  spite  of 
the  brilliancy  he  had  never  seen  so  great  in 
her  before,  Frances  was  unhappy.  He  saw 
enough,  also,  to  fear  the  drift  of  her  life  was 
to  a  love  which  would  not  bring  her  peace, 
and  which  would  leave  him  desolate.  He 
saw  that  the  professor  was  just  beginning  to 
wake  to  a  vague  uneasiness,  and  his  resolve 
to  befriend  her,  no  matter  at  what  cost  to 
himself,  was  strengthened. 

The  next  day  he  came  in  for  the  observa- 
tory party,  which  was  to  be  the  last  gayety  of 
the  visitors,  who  were  going  on  the  early 
train  of  the  morning  following.  Lawson 
202 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

had  arranged  the  expedition,  and  had  or- 
dered the  big  drag  from  the  stables  for 
the  ride  up  the  mountain  in  the  moonlight 
just  beginning  to  tinge  the  highest  peaks. 
A  whispered  word  placed  Elizabeth  Martin 
on  the  driver's  seat  beside  him;  Montague 
was  quick  to  seize  the  opportunity  of  seating 
himself  by  Frances'  side,  and  was  thankful 
for  the  chance.  Frances,  herself,  was  wrapt 
in  the  beautiful  moonlit  world  through  which 
they  rode.  Her  dreamy  eyes  saw  the  rolling 
hills  and  the  distant  lights  bespeaking  home; 
her  fine  listening  heard  the  song  of  the  night 
winds  in  the  oaks,  as  they  wound  up  the 
mountain  side,  and  the  music  of  the  rustling 
leaves  under  wheel  and  hoof-beats.  As  the 
road  mounted  higher  she  turned  to  watch 
the  lights  in  the  valley,  the  clustering  sparkle 
of  them  in  the  town,  and,  above  the  crests  of 
the  Ragged  Mountains,  the  moon,  swinging 
over  all  and  flooding  the  world  with  mystic 
light. 

On  the  mountain  crest  the  world  seemed 
strangely  hushed.     The  observatory  gleamed 
ghostly  in  the  shadowings  of  the  oaks;  the 
203 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

red  light  shining  from  the  window  of  the 
work-room  and  the  young  man  it  shone 
on  inside  were  a  human  touch  distinctly 
needed.  His  welcome,  the  glowing  stove  in 
the  room,  the  bright  lamp-light  shining  on 
book-shelves  and  easy  chairs  and  tables, 
were  a  cheer  for  which  the  chilled  visitors 
were  grateful. 

"  You  had  better  keep  your  wraps  on,"  he 
cautioned  them,  as  the  women  began  to  un- 
fasten furs  and  coats,  "  I  think  it  is  a  little 
colder  in  the  observatory  than  outside." 

An  icy  blast  through  the  door  he  opened 
confirmed  him.  The  metallic  sides  of  the 
great  telescope  gleamed  in  the  cold  white 
light  as  they  entered.  Frances  waited  as 
her  visitors  mounted  the  frail-looking  stairs 
and  peered  through  the  great  instrument  at 
the  moon  they  had  seen  rising  over  the 
mountain,  so  small,  so  far  away,  now,  through 
this  medium,  swinging  in  space  a  great  globe 
of  light. 

She  herself  was  never  tired  of  the  marvel, 
nor  of  the  long  look  through  the  huge  tele- 
scope at  the  circling  rim  of  the  luminary, 
204 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

broken    with  deep  craters  and  wrapped  in 
luminous  mists. 

The  student,  seeing  her  enthusiasm, 
dropped  his  alphabetic  talk,  and  began  tell- 
ing of  some  juxtaposition  of  the  stars  they 
were  watching. 

"  Would  you  care  to  see  it  ? "  he  asked,  as 
he  commenced  to  swing  the  top  of  the  great 
dome  about  and  the  telescope  with  it. 

"  You  are  not  going  to  stay  long?  "  ques- 
tioned one  of  the  young  women. 

"  It  's  so  cold,  Frances,  we  '11  wait  in  the 
other  room  by  the  fire." 

Frances,  deeply  interested,  scarcely  knew 
when  they  were  gone  or  how  long  she  lin- 
gered ;  for  there  were  other  things  to  be 
shown  eager  eyes,  writ  in  such  entrancing 
language  on  the  heavens,  that  the  young  man 
whose  duty  it  was  to  keep  watch  of  them  was 
glad  to  show  the  manner  of  their  writing. 

When,  half  frozen,  they  hurried  back  to 
the  working-room,  they  found  a  comfortable 
group  waiting  them.  Mary  Rowan  and 
Edward  Montague  and  one  other  man  were 
huddled  together  about  the  stove.  Further 
20$ 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

away,  apart,  by  one  of  the  tables  were  Eliza- 
beth Martin  and  Lawson.  The  lamp-light 
shone  full  on  her  face.  She  was  looking  up 
at  him.  It  might  have  been  coquetry  that 
brought  the  expression  Frances  saw  as  she 
opened  the  door,  but  at  least  it  was  in 
response  to  something  of  language  or  look 
in  the  man  who  leaned  over  her.  So  much 
Frances  told  herself  instantly.  The  thought 
sent  a  sickening  feeling  from  head  to  foot. 
She  reeled  slightly ;  Montague,  watching  her, 
sprang  to  her  assistance. 

"  How  cold  you  are !  You  can  hardly 
walk !  Sit  here ! "  as  he  pulled  forward  an 
easy  chair.  "  Take  off  your  wraps  as  soon 
as  you  are  warm,"  he  cautioned,  "  or  you  will 
not  feel  them  when  you  go  out." 

Lawson,  hearing  the  solicitous  speech, 
frowned  and  turned  so  as  he  could  see  them ; 
but  he  saw  only  a  supple  figure  cuddled  in 
the  depths  of  a  chair,  the  face  turned  from 
him.  He  came  up  to  the  fire.  "  It's  beastly 
cold,"  he  declared,  "  I  don't  see  how  you 
stood  it  so  long." 

Frances  never  lifted  her  lids.  She  was 
206 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

absorbed  in  warming  her  icy,  trembling 
fingers.  Once  and  again  he  strove  for  a 
word  with  her,  but  she  was  coldly  indifferent. 
At  the  side  of  the  drag  he  took  matters  in 
his  own  hands.  "You  are  going  to  drive 
down  with  me,"  he  declared. 

"  No !  "  said  Frances,  coldly. 

"  But  there  is  something  I  want  to  say  to 
you ;  Miss  Martin,  Miss  Frances  is  going  to 
drive  back  on  the  seat  with  me."  He  was 
frightened,  and  anxious  to  make  his  peace; 
there  was  something  he  had  just  settled  with 
Elizabeth,  and  she  was  frightened  too. 

"Of  course,"  she  assented  quickly;  "Mr. 
Montague,  I  am  going  back  with  you."  She 
gave  Frances  no  time  for  remonstrance,  as 
she  claimed  Montague's  help  at  once  and 
sprang  into  the  drag.  The  others  were 
already  seated.  Frances  must  go  as  Law- 
son  demanded,  perforce.  She  was  angered 
at  the  scene  she  had  come  upon  and  angered 
at  being  so  managed. 

The  young  man  beside  her  found  her  simply 
and  icily  civil,  and  that  the  words  he  must 
say  to  her  were  most  difficult  to  frame;  but 
207 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

well  down  the  mountain-side,  the  rest  talk- 
ing gayly,  he  felt  he  must  seize  his  chance. 
With  his  free  hand  he  felt  for  hers  under 
the  buffalo  robe,  and  found  it.  Frances  did 
not  withdraw  it,  nor  was  there  a  thrill  of  life 
or  love  in  its  touch. 

He  was  manly  enough  to  be  quite  open  as 
to  what  he  had  to  say.  "  I  am  going  to 
Richmond  to-morrow."  The  fingers  quivered 
slightly ;  from  the  lips  came  no  sound. 

"  Do  you  know  how  near  Christmas  it 
is?"  he  questioned. 

Montague,  behind  him,  caught  the  tone 
and  clenched  his  fists,  even  while  he  was  an- 
swering Elizabeth  Martin's  raillery. 

"  I  am  going  to  search  the  shops." 

There  was  still  no  answer. 

"  I  am  going  to  see  what  the  jewellers 
have  —  " 

He  left  her  to  find  out  for  herself  what  she 
had  already  divined.  When  she  drove  with 
her  guests  to  the  station  next  morning  she 
found  him  waiting. 

He  took  the  same  train. 


208 


XVI 

WHEN  Frances  drove  from  the  sta- 
tion, for  the  first  time  in  all  her 
healthy  young  life  she  found  her- 
self dreading  the  day  which  stretched  before 
her.  She  tied  Starlight  outside  the  quad- 
rangle and  walked  up  the  corridor  slowly. 
Every  window  of  her  house  was  opened 
wide.  Susan,  beturbanned,  met  her  at  the 
door. 

"  Honey,"  she  said,  "  don't  yuh  want  to  go 
in  yo'  room  dis  damp  day  an*  res'  yo'self  ? " 

Frances  gave  a  little  shiver  at  the  idea  of 
being  shut  in  her  room  all  the  morning.  Her 
expression  was  answer  sufficient. 

"Den  yuh  bettah  dribe  in  town  an'  git 
sumpin'  to  eat ;  we  's  cleaned  clar  out" 

"What  do  you  want?"  asked  Frances, 
glad  of  the  errand. 

"Want!  Yuh  jes' step  in  hyar  one  min- 
ute." The  old  woman  pointed  with  dra- 
M  209 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

matic  hand  towards  the  empty  shelves,  and 
began  a  list  of  all  the  eatables  she  could 
think  of. 

"  We  needs  'em  fur  shuah ! "  she  ended. 
"  Ise  gwine  begin  my  Christmas  cake  ter- 
morrer;  Ise  jes'  been  waiting  to  git  de  place 
clar,  an'  I  tell  yuh  fer  a  fac'  I  wants  dis  house 
all  to  myself  dis  one  mornin'.  Ise  tiahed 
o'  dried-up  flowers  an'  empty  boxes  an' — an' 
—  sich !  Honey,"  she  wheedled,  "if  yuh 
gits  through  early,  yuh  might  go  visitin'." 

Frances  was  laughing  at  Susan's  earnest- 
ness, when  she  went  out  again.  There  was 
nothing  in  the  day,  though  the  mist  dripped 
from  shrub  and  tree  and  bespangled  the 
grass  and  veiled  the  mountains,  to  foster 
heartache.  The  streets  were  filled  with  car- 
riages, mud-splashed  and  encrusted,  the 
horses  red  with  clay  above  their  fetlocks. 
The  stores  were  bright  with  holly  and  cedar. 
Before  the  grocers'  shops  were  coops  of 
turkeys  and  strings  of  hams  and  barrels  of 
oysters.  The  confectioners'  windows  were 
piled  high  with  oranges  and  dates  and  nuts 
and  raisins  and  candies.  The  dry-goods 
210 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

windows  showed  alluring  furs  and  coats  and 
breadths  of  cloth.  Waiting  at  the  curb  was 
a  string  of  carriages,  their  occupants  calling 
gay  greetings  from  one  to  another.  Frances 
pulling  close  into  the  press  felt  herself  one 
of  the  Christmas  crowd.  A  shopper  stopped 
at  her  wheel  for  a  word  or  two;  the  busy 
clerk,  when  he  at  last  found  time  for  her 
order,  had  a  ready  jest :  there  was  store  after 
store  to  be  visited.  Frances  felt  the  cheer 
of  the  blessed  commonplaces.  She  was  as 
bright  as  any  of  the  crowd.  Her  cheeks 
were  reddened  with  the  soft  damp  air,  her 
hair  curled  rebelliously  about  her  forehead 
under  the  brim  of  her  big  hat. 

It  was  long  past  noon  when  she  turned 
homeward.  She  went  slowly.  The  crush 
of  carriage  and  cart,  of  farm  wagons  loaded 
with  cedar  and  holly,  and  ox-carts  piled  with 
cord-wood,  demanded  careful  driving.  She 
was  nearly  out  of  the  shopping  district  when 
she  heard  her  father  call  her. 

"  I  thought  you  were  at  home,"  she  called 
back. 

"  And  I  thought  you  were  there/' 
211 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  You  can  drive  up  with  me."  She  pulled 
as  close  to  the  curb  as  she  could. 

"  I  don't  know ;  Edward  is  in  here,"  point- 
ing to  the  store  before  which  he  stood. 

"  What  have  you  been  doing  ?  "  The  pro- 
fessor flushed  with  a  guilty  knowledge  of  the 
Greek  cameo  in  his  pocket. 

"  Oh,  I  have  been  helping  him  select  some 
Christmas  presents.  He  's  going  home,  you 
know,  for  the  holidays.  Here  he  is  now. 
Can't  you  go  out  with  us  ?  "  asked  the  pro- 
fessor, soon  as  the  young  man  had  greeted 
Frances. 

"  I  am  afraid  I  ought  not." 

"  I  '11  drive  you  up  by  the  stables,"  sug- 
gested Frances. 

"  I  wish  you  would.  Have  you  time  to  see 
my  new  horse  ? "  he  asked,  as  Frances  drove 
slowly  and  skilfully  along  the  crowded  street. 

"I  did  n't  know  you  had  a  new  horse." 

"  No  ?  I  have  been  intending  to  ride  her 
in  when  you  could  see  her,  but  you  have  had 
so  little  time  —  " 

"  But  I  have  time  now,"  said  the  young 
woman,  enthusiastically,  as  she  stopped  be- 
212 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

fore  the  stables.     "  Can't  we  go  in  and  see 
her  ?  "  to  her  father. 

"  Certainly." 

The  young  man  put  his  mare  through  her 
paces  up  and  down  the  stable  aisle.  "  I  want 
you  to  ride  her  some  time,"  he  declared,  as 
Frances  waxed  eloquent  over  the  horse's  slen- 
der head  and  liquid  eyes  and  shapely  legs. 

"  When  can  you  bring  her  in  ?  She 's  a 
beauty !  I  'd  like  to  ride  her  now." 

11  Shall  I  put  your  saddle  on  ?  "  questioned 
Mr.  Carver,  who  stood  with  the  group  ad- 
miring the  animal. 

11  I  am  afraid  Mr.  Montague  has  not  time," 
faltered  Frances. 

Edward  had  one  fleeting  vision  of  the  work 
awaiting  him,  then  he  put  it  out  of  his  mind. 
"  Certainly,"  he  said,  "  if  you  will  allow  me 
to  reconsider.  I  will  go  out  with  you,  and 
Mr.  Carver  can  send  the  horse  to  the  house." 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Frances,  softly. 

"You  had  better  go  with  her,"  declared 
the  professor,  who  was  never  quite  sure  of 
his    daughter   when    it   was   a  question   of 
horses.     "  Can't  you  ride  Starlight  ?  " 
213 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

Montague's  eyes  were  questioning  Frances' 
face ;  he  saw  the  quick  look  of  pleasure,  as 
she  cried,  "  I  shall  be  delighted." 

They  went  up  the  long  street  together. 
As  they  crossed  the  high  bridge  above  the 
railroad,  there  was  to  each  of  the  young 
people  a  quick  unwelcome  memory.  Frances 
recalled  a  young  man's  debonair  manner  as 
he  made  his  adieux  that  morning,  and  Ed- 
ward had  a  swift  remembrance  of  the  still, 
frosty  morning  when  he  stood  there,  uncon- 
scious, and  watched  the  glittering  coaches 
slipping  away,  Frances  in  one  of  them ;  and 
he  thought  of  all  the  tangle  since. 

Frances  had  wondered  with  secret  amuse- 
ment what  Susan  would  say  to  the  guest. 
The  old  darkey  was  the  soul  of  affability. 
The  house  was  in  its  regular,  quiet  order, 
and  was  spotless.  She  waited  on  the  table, 
brisk  good  humor  in  every  movement.  The 
boy  was  out  of  sight. 

Soon  as  the  dinner  was  over  she  asked 
"  Marse  Robert  "  to  step  into  the  kitchen. 
"  I  done  discharged  dat  boy,"  she  announced 
briefly. 

214 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Why,  Susan,  what  was  the  matter  ? "  the 
professor  asked  carelessly. 

"  I  got  no  need  o'  him  nohow,  an'  Ise 
tiahed  o'  his  sass,  an'  Ise  tiahed  o'  seeing  so 
many  folks  aroun'." 

The  professor  secretly  agreed  with  her. 

"  He  wants  his  money,"  went  on  the  old 
darkey,  shamefacedly.  "He  'low  as  how 
he  's  comin'  back  dis  ebenin'." 

"  All  right.     How  much  is  it! " 

Susan  named  a  sum,  and  the  professor 
handed  it  to  her,  and  hurried  on  into  the 
library.  He  had  had  no  such  opportunity 
for  days  for  a  talk  with  Montague,  but  he 
found  that  young  man  so  inattentive  a  lis- 
tener that  he  was  not  sorry  when  Frances 
pulled  aside  the  portiere  and  called  that  she 
was  ready  and  the  horse  was  there. 

Frosts  and  rains  had  made  the  roads  rough, 
but  here  and  there  by  wayside  path  or  sandy 
stretch,  the  mare  showed  her  gait,  swift  and 
smooth.  It  was  a  beautiful  world  through 
which  they  rode,  the  mists  closing  about 
them  shutting  in  the  distant  peaks  and 
clinging  to  the  bare  fields'  breast  and  con- 
215 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

densing  in  jewelled  drops  on  fence  and  bush 
and  dried  brown  grasses ;  and  the  exhilara- 
tion of  movement,  the  comfort  of  thoughtful, 
watchful  companionship  which  roused  no 
hateful  mood,  cheered  the  young  girl  to  for- 
getfulness  of  all  else. 

But  there  was  the  next  day  for  remem- 
brance, when  the  rain  shut  her  in,  and  the 
storm  lashed  along  the  mountains  and  beat 
across  the  quadrangle ;  and  the  next,  when 
the  clouds  held  sullen  guard  over  the  hill- 
tops. Three  days  had  gone  by,  and  Lawson 
had  not  returned.  It  was  the  evening  of 
that  third  day  that,  sitting  in  her  old  chair 
before  the  library  fire,  while  her  father  was 
reading  absorbedly  not  far  away,  Frances 
heard  the  bell  ring  sharply.  She  did  not 
know  that  every  nerve  in  her  was  tense  as 
she  heard  the  voice  in  the  hall  when  Susan 
opened  the  door. 

"  Mr.  Lawson,"  said  Susan,  coming  into 
the  room ;  "  he  walked  straight  on  into  the 
parlor." 

Frances  kept  her  face  turned  away;  she 
felt  the  hot  flush  there,  as  she  got  to  her  feet 
216 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

and  pulled  her  fleecy  scarf  about  her  bare 
neck.  There  was  a  strange  feeling  of  suffo- 
cation in  her  throat,  but  she  set  her  lips 
firmly  and  held  her  head  high  as  she  walked 
across  the  hall,  her  gown  rustling  about 
her. 

"  Frances ! "  Lawson  sprang  to  meet  her 
as  the  portiere  dropped  behind  her. 

What  she  saw  in  his  face  and  what  she 
felt  in  her  own  heart  held  her  speechless, 
but  to  Lawson  it  looked  adorable  confusion, 
—  the  warm  flush  and  lowered  lids,  and  red, 
proud  mouth. 

"  Frances! "  He  strode  across  to  her  and 
would  have  put  his  arms  about  her,  but  that 
she  shrank  back. 

His  eyes  showed  quick  amusement.  He 
loved  her  a  hundred  times  better  so,  with  all 
her  changeableness ;  he  was  never  quite  sure 
of  her  or  of  her  mood. 

"  You  do  not  know  how  I  have  longed  to 
see  you,"  he  whispered.  Her  eyelids  flut- 
tered up,  he  had  one  searching  look  from 
darkened  eyes,  and  then  he  knew  he  must 
make  his  peace. 

217 


"In  Richmond,"  he  began  —  "  but  you  are 
not  going  to  stand  here  ?  "  He  stood  aside 
as  she  went  past  him,  her  scarlet  skirt  swish- 
ing against  his  feet,  and  he  watched  her  with 
a  delight  he  would  not  let  her  know  for 
worlds.  So  she  was  angry! 

He  followed  her  and  leaned  against  the  man- 
tel. She,  too,  was  standing,  as  if  to  intimate 
that  what  he  had  to  say  were  best  said  quickly. 

"  In  Richmond,"  he  began  again,  and  has- 
tened on,  "  I  did  n't  see  —  you  don't  know 
what  I  wished  for  you,"  —  he  would  act  as 
if  there  were  no  possible  shadow  between 
them,  — "I  searched  the  stores  and  searched. 
I  went  to  Washington  —  "  Surely  this  were 
explanation  enough,  though  he  had  a  swift 
and  guilty  remembrance  of  the  one  brief  day 
in  Washington,  of  the  theatre  party  and  the 
supper  at  the  Jefferson  when  he  came  back 
to  Richmond  that  night,  which  Elizabeth 
Martin  had  been  so  quick  to  arrange  at  his 
invitation  and  to  promise  not  to  write  of, 
and  then  of  the  german  next  night.  They 
had  trusted  to  Frances  not  hearing,  and  she 
had  not,  nor  ever  did. 
218 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

He  drew  from  a  pocket  of  the  overcoat  he 
still  had  on,  a  satin  case  and  laid  it  on  the 
table,  watching  Frances  with  keen  delighted 
eyes.  The  mouth  was  drooping  a  little  now, 
the  cheek  paling,  there  was  even  a  suspicion 
of  tears  about  the  lowered  lids. 

"  Are  you  not  going  to  look  ? "  he  asked 
softly  as  he  touched  the  spring  and  threw 
back  the  lid. 

Frances  scarcely  turned  her  head,  though 
the  sparkle  under  the  electric  light  was 
magnetic.  The  young  man  made  a  step 
closer  to  her,  put  his  hand  upon  her 
shoulder  as  if  to  turn  her  face  toward  the 
table;  but  Frances  shrank  back  into  the 
chair  close  by  and  hid  her  face  against  the 
cushions. 

All  her  anger,  her  jealousy,  were  but  a 
part  of  her  own  wretched  self,  and  he  was 
innocent,  her  generous  heart  accused;  she 
was  shamed  to  the  quick. 

But  Lawson  had  no  key  to  this.     He  was 

genuinely  frightened,  and  quick  as  the  fear 

was  the  old  ungovernable  will  to  win.     He 

knelt  by  her,  striving  to  pull  her  hands  from 

219 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

her  face,  whispering  all  the  endearing  words 
he  could  muster. 

He  cursed  his  folly  and  the  insanity  that 
had  beset  him.  He  knew,  why  had  he  ever 
thought  of  it  lightly,  that  she  was  the  one 
thing  the  world  held  for  him  desirable.  He 
was  wild  with  fear.  He  would  try  one  other 
way. 

"  Frances,"  he  pleaded  finally,  as  he  got  to 
his  feet,  "  if  you  do  not  look  at  me,  speak  to 
me,  I  shall  —  I  shall  know  you  do  not  wish 
to  at  all,"  his  voice  was  as  firm  as  he  could 
command  it. 

And  Frances  stumbling  to  her  feet  with 
face  averted,  held  out  her  hands. 

It  was  many  minutes  later  that  he  began 
to  talk  to  her  of  the  jewels.  They  were 
magnificent.  Frances'  simplicity  was  af- 
frighted. It  was  a  part  of  his  composite 
nature  to  remember  her  with  passionate  de- 
votion while  he  was  outwardly  forgetful  and 
to  search  for  the  finest  gems  he  could  find. 

"  I  can  never  wear  them,"  faltered  Frances. 

"  But  you  will,  and  many  others,"  he  as- 
sured, as  he  went  on  ardently  to  tell  her  of 
220 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

all  he  should  do  for  her,  not  obtruding  his 
wealth,  yet  not  losing  sight  of  it ;  but  when 
he  was  done  he  was  astonished  at  Frances* 
answer.  She  was  looking  at  something  in 
her  own  heart  and  striving  to  show  it  to 
him. 

"  Do  you  know,"  she  began  falteringly, 
"  there  is  something  I  must  tell  you.  You 
must  be  quite  sure  —  you  may  think  you  do, 
but  you  must  be  sure  you  —  you"  —  the 
voice  sank  very  low  —  "  you  love  me !  " 

"  Love  you,"  pleaded  Lawson,  "  there  are  no 
words  to  tell  you  how  I  do ! "  and  there  were 
none  for  the  depth  and  height  of  the  love  he 
felt  then  as  he  looked  into  her  wistful  eyes. 

"  But  I  am  afraid  I  am  unreasonable  —  or 
—  or —  Let  me  tell  you,"  her  voice  was 
distinct  and  decided  now.  "  I  cannot  stand  a 
half-hearted  devotion,  a  devotion  to  be  shared 
with  —  "  —  "every  pretty  face"  her  heart 
said,  but  her  lips — "with  any  one.  Better 
nothing  at  all.  Don't  offer  it  to  me !  "  She 
was  speaking  wildly,  perhaps,  remembering 
some  things.  "  A  man's  whole  love  I  should 
demand,  pure,  sincere,  unshared,  or  nothing 

221 


A    GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

I  —  "  she  faltered,  seeing  Lawson  had  grown 
white  to  the  lips. 

"  I  love  you ! "  he  said  hoarsely. 

"  Yes,  now,"  the  girl  insisted ;  "  but  a  year 
from  now  —  ten  ?  " 

Lawson  turned  away,  strode  back  to  her 
and  looked  questioningly,  sternly,  into  her 
eyes.  Even  in  her  excitement  she  knew  he 
was  white  as  his  shirt,  that  his  eyes  glowed 
strangely  and  his  hand  as  he  grasped  her 
arm  was  cold  as  ice.  She  felt  herself 
trembling  as  she  leaned  against  the  man- 
tel, awaiting  his  words  breathlessly.  As 
she  had  appealed  from  the  depths  of  her 
being,  so  she  expected  the  truth  from  his. 
Were  he  given  to  wavering  it  were  bet- 
ter, it  were  the  only  manly  thing  to  do, 
to  tell  her  even  now  and  free  her.  She 
could  live  through  that.  The  other  were 
impossible. 

But  he  made  no  answer.  She  saw  his 
chest  heave  as  a  woman's  might  in  anguish, 
she  saw  the  set  of  his  face,  strong,  deter- 
mined, though  the  pallor  lingered.  Then 
he  spoke  suddenly. 

222 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Your  father  is  in  there  ?  "  he  questioned, 
motioning  across  the  hall. 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  her  eyes  wide  with 
wonder. 

"  I  am  going  to  speak  to  him,  Frances." 
He  took  her  hands  gently,  '*  I  am  going  to 
ask  him  to  give  you  to  me." 

This,  then,  was  his  answer.  Her  lips 
trembled.  Lawson  looked  long  and  search- 
ingly,  saying  no  other  word.  He  bent, 
kissed  her,  almost  as  if  in  consecration, 
and  walked  with  quick  step  across  the 
room. 

Frances  leaned,  shaken  with  tremulous 
happiness ;  she  saw  the  glitter  of  jewels  on 
the  table  and  smiled  happily,  she  took  from 
its  case  the  hoop  of  diamonds  and  ran  it  on 
her  finger,  her  eyes  too  dim  to  watch  its 
sparkle  aright.  The  others  she  left  un- 
touched. She  heard  the  voices  across  the 
hall,  and  she  remembered  again,  with  a  shock 
of  sorrow,  what  this  would  mean  to  her 
father.  How  could  she  leave  him;  how 
could  he  let  her  go?  She  walked  across 
the  room  restlessly,  she  heard  a  chair  pushed 
223 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

back  —  Lawson's  footstep.  A  sudden  shy- 
ness possessed  her. 

Down  at  the  end  of  the  room  was  another 
door,  opening  on  the  hall  behind  the  stair- 
way, she  closed  it  softly,  and  stood  there 
hidden  as  Lawson's  quick  step  rang  across 
the  hall ;  then  she  slipped  into  the  dining- 
room,  and  pulled  aside  the  portiere. 

Her  father's  head  was  sunken  on  the 
table,  his  arm  flung  above  it.  She  ran  up 
to  him.  "  Father,"  she  pleaded  as  she  bent 
over  him. 

But  he  never  moved. 

"  Father,  don't  think  I  love  you  less,"  she 
whispered. 

He  pushed  back  his  chair  and  faced  her. 
"  Did  you  know,"  he  demanded,  "  did  you 
know  Lawson  was  a  divorced  man?" 


224 


XVII 

DIVORCED !  "     She  felt  herself  reel- 
ing, hands  outstretched  before  her, 
feeling     for     something     tangible. 
"  Divorced ! " 

"  My  God,  I  might  have  known  you  did 
not  know." 

"  It 's  not  true  ! "  she  whispered  hoarsely. 

"  True ! "    repeated    the    professor    with 
bitter  emphasis. 

"  Then  —  why  —  "  Frances  put  her  hands 
up  to  her  throat.  Her  father  swept  his  arm 
about  her  and  half  lifted  her  into  the  dining- 
room  and  into  the  kitchen  beyond.  They 
would  have  no  scene  which  that  ^ascal  there 
could  look  upon  —  the  professor  never  varied 
his  term  again  —  say  no  wild  words  he  could 
hear.  The  kitchen  was  deserted,  Susan 
abed.  The  father  put  his  daughter  down  in 
the  darkey's  old  flag  chair  beside  the  stove 
where  the  fire  yet  gleamed. 
'$  225 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"  God  only  knows,"  he  groaned,  "  how  it 
was  we  never  knew  it." 

"  Did  he  tell  you  ?  "  whispered  Frances. 
"  Yes,  he  told  me,"  grimly,  "  he  asked  me 

—  he  said  he  had  your  consent,  Frances." 
The   girl,   white,    wide-eyed,  nodded   her 

answer. 

"  It  would  have  been  hard  —  but  you 
know  —  you  know  —  " 

She  felt  for  his  hand  on  her  shoulder  and 
clasped  it,  she  knew  he  would  do  anything  he 
felt  would  make  for  her  happiness. 

"  I  had  not  thought  much  ;  I  had  not  even 

—  I  had  thought  — "  he  blundered,  daring 
no    word   of   what  he  had  borne    dimly   in 
mind.     "  How  blind  I  have  been  !     I  should 
have  known ! " 

There  was  dead  silence  between  them, 
only  the  crackling  of  the  dying  fire  in  the 
stove.  The  dark  was  insupportable.  The 
professor  felt  for  the  electric  bulb  and 
flashed  up  the  light ;  it  gave  him  courage. 

"  When  he  first  spoke,  I  was  dumbfounded. 
I  asked  him  if" — he  came  back  to  his 
daughter's  side.  "He  told  me" —  Again 
226 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

the  silence.  "  Then  he  began  to  speak  of  set- 
tlements, settlements  !  He  hesitated  a  long 
time,  and  then  he  said,  '  You  know,  I  sup- 
pose, I  am  a  divorced  man!'  I  felt  — "  He 
clenched  his  hands,  the  veins  stood  out  in 
his  forehead.  No  need  to  put  the  emotion 
into  words. 

Frances  got  to  her  feet  and  pushed  back 
her  chair. 

"  Where  are  you  going  ?  " 

"  To  speak  to  him !  " 

"You  shall  not!" 

"  I  shall !  "  She  walked  past  him,  drew  a 
glass  of  water  from  the  spigot  above  the 
kitchen  sink  and  drank  it 

"I  must!"  she  said  more  gently,  "and, 
father,  you  must  trust  me.  No  1  *  as  he 
made  some  motion  to  follow  her,  "  I  shall 
need  no  help  !  "  proudly. 

She  went  in  by  the  door  through  which 
she  had  left,  went  softly,  and  Lawson  did 
not  hear  her.  He  stood  before  the  fire  wait- 
ing,  all  his  soul  burned  and  scorched  with 
the  agony  he  had  felt  when  first  he  faced 
what,  spite  of  his  brave  words  and  courage, 
227 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

would  ever  be  to  his  inmost  self  a  stigma  — 
waiting! 

For  one  instant  all  her  heart  cried  out  for 
him,  as  she  saw  the  attitude,  the  droop  of  his 
face,  unlike  the  bravado  she  had  sometimes 
thought  too  gay.  Then  she  went  across  to 
him. 

He  had  not  dared  to  turn.  That  first  look, 
he  knew,  would  tell  him  all.  He  had  not 
dared.  She  stood  near.  "  Mr.  Lawson." 
Ah,  that  tone  told  the  tale  !  He  held  himself 
upright  and  turned  to  look  at  her  calmly. 

"  My  father  has  just  told  me,"  she  began  ; 
then,  one  look  into  his  eyes  at  the  suffering 
she  saw  there,  "  Why,  oh  why  did  you  do 
it?"  she  cried,  as  she  flung  herself  into  a 
chair. 

Lawson  never  touched  her,  never  spoke, 
though  she  was  sobbing  bitterly ;  but  when 
the  sobs  quieted,  "  Do  what  ? "  he  asked 
coldly. 

"  Live  this  lie !  "  she  accused  hotly,  from 
the  shelter  of  her  arms. 

"  Lie  !  "  he  strode  a  step  closer. 

"  You  knew  —  " 

228 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  I  knew  every  paper  reeked  with  it  five 
years  ago  —  that  I  could  not  pick  up  a  sheet 
without  seeing  the  shameful  words.  Every 
man  I  met  home  or  abroad  showed  his 
knowledge  of  it.  It 's  been  branded  on  every 
hour  of  my  life  since  that  cursed  day." 

"  You  knew  we  did  not  know." 

"  How  should  I  ?    Why  should  n't  you  ? " 

M  You  should  have  told  —  " 

"  Is  it  a  pleasant  tale  to  tell  ?  No !  "  with 
slow  bitterness,  "  I  should  not  have  told. 
Then  you  would  have  married  me,  and  I  — 
oh  God !  " 

"  Married  70** — you,  with  another  wife  I" 

"  Wife ! "  ' 

"  A  woman  bearing  your  name." 

"  She  does !  "  sullenly. 

"And  I!"  she  cried.     "And  I?" 

"  You  speak  as  —  You  1  You  would  have 
been  my  legal,  loved,  idolized  wife.  Listen, 
for  you  shall  know !  My  God,  it 's  hard 
enough !  I  was  a  fool,  young !  I  had  to 
send  for  my  father  to  sign  my  license,  and 
he,  he  was  taken  in  too.  She  was  beautiful. 
Her  family,  her  position —  Well,  all  she 
229 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

wanted  was  money,  and  she  got  it.  I  paid 
her  enough  for  my  freedom,  God  knows. 
She  fooled  us  both." 

M  Paid  her !  And  she  is  bearing  your  name, 
living  on  your  money !  " 

"  It  was  what  she  wanted  !   She  got  both  ! " 

"  And  you,  you  loved  her !  " 

Lawson  shrank  as  if  struck.  "  It  was  the 
passion  of  a  crude  idiot !  "  he  cried. 

"And  you  tired  of  her?  " 

"  Put  it  truthfully  —  she  of  me,  if  ever  she 
wanted  me ! " 

"You  loved  her,  and  you  have  forgotten 
her!  How  do  I  know,"  blazed  Frances,  "that 
you  might  not  forget  me  ?  " 

"  Frances ! "  the  young  man  raised  his 
hand,  as  though  to  ward  off  a  blow. 

"Forget  me  —  me/n 

"  Frances,  you  cannot  dream,  I  cannot  tell 
you.  She  —  she  wanted  only  a  man  to  shield 
herself  behind"  —  the  girl  he  spoke  to  could 
not  know  what  he  meant,  and  he  could  not 
dare  to  make  her  understand,  even  to  excuse 
himself  —  "and  the  money  for  jewels  and 
clothes  and  fine  living  and  show."  He  could 
230 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

not  tell  her  of  the  life  that  woman  led,  which 
might  be  fast  and  might  be  worse.  "  I  'm  no 
saint,  but  I  could  not  stand  it.  She  took 
scant  time  to  show  me  what  she  thought. 
Once  —  once  — 

"I  tell  you  with  truth  I  thought  at  first 
that  you  knew  it.  I  thought  every  one, 
wherever  I  should  go,  would  know.  It  was 
a  spicy  enough  scandal  for  the  paper's  head- 
lines ;  I  thought  it  blazoned  everywhere,  even 
if  it  were  five  years  ago." 

"  We  never  read  such  things,  "said  Frances 
in  indignant  defence. 

"  So  I  find ;  but  even  then,  there  is  always 
some  one  ready  to  speak." 

"  There  was  none  here." 

"  So  I  find,"  he  repeated  wearily,  "  and  so 
all  this  blunder." 

"As  to  you  knowing,  Frances,"  he  said 
gently,  "I  knew  you  did  not.  I  tried  to  tell 
you  once,  and  then,  the  opportunity  gone,  let 
myself  stray  in  this  fool's  paradise."  It  was 
paradise  to  him,  now  the  gates  were  closed. 
"I  feared  your  crude  views;  you  will  never 
know  the  temptation  I  fought  to  be  silent." 
231 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

She  started  to  speak,  but  he  raised  his  hand 
deprecatingly.  "  Leave  me  no  bitterer  words 
to  remember,"  he  begged.  "  I  shall  say 
good-by !  "  He  spoke  with  steady  dignity. 

She  held  out  one  hand  unsteadily.  He 
took  both,  and,  looking  down,  they  saw  the 
sparkle  of  his  ring  on  her  finger.  Without 
a  word  she  slipped  it  off  and  gave  it  to  him. 
He  thrust  it  into  his  pocket. 

"  The  others,"  she  whispered. 

He  snapped  the  lid  and  thrust  the  case 
after  the  ring. 

"  Good-by !  "  he  said  once  more.  "  I  shall 
not  say  I  will  not  see  you  again.  I  am  not 
given  to  heroics.  I,"  he  spoke  bitterly,  "  am 
commonplace,  quite.  It  is  likely  I  shall  stay 
here  as  if  nothing  had  happened,  but  this  is 
good-by!"  He  raised  her  hand,  kissed  it 
where  his  ring  had  been,  and  was  gone. 


232 


XVIII 

IT  was  five  years  since  he  had  had  any 
word  from  her,  that  woman  who  bore  his 
name  out  there  in  the  West,  and  whom 
he   remembered   with  fierce   shame,  or  put 
away  from  his  thoughts  with  cold  bitterness. 

He  sat  all  night  in  the  chair  in  which  he 
flung  himself  when  he  came  back  from  the 
professor's  house  to  his  room.  The  fire  died 
in  his  grate,  he  did  not  heed  it;  he  was  cold 
as  ice,  he  did  not  know  it  The  stars  paled 
and  faded  as  he  sat  there.  He  was  making 
no  plan  of  life,  raking  no  old  memories ;  he 
was  stunned,  dazed. 

The  negro  whose  duty  it  was  to  kindle  his 
fire,  hurrying  in  at  his  unlocked  door,  found 
him  there  asleep,  his  face  white  and  ghastly 
under  the  glare  of  the  full  light.  The  coal 
scuttle  the  boy  held  fell  with  a  clatter  to  the 
floor.  Lawson  stirred  and  opened  his  eyes. 

"  Boss,"  the  negro  chattered,  "  'fo'  Gawd,  I 
thought  yuh  was  daid  ! " 
233 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

Lawson  looked  at  him  dully. 

"  I  'se  late,  monstrous  late  dis  mornin',"  he 
blurted,  still  scared  at  Lawson's  look.  "  I  '11 
mek  yo'  fiah  in  no  time  j  "  He  knelt  before 
the  grate  and  began  cleaning  it  out  with 
trembling  hands. 

Lawson  still  sat,  the  light  shining  full  on 
him,  his  evening  clothes,  the  wilted  rose  in  his 
button-hole,  his  heavy  coat  enwrapping  him. 

"  Pos'man  done  been  long,"  said  the  darkey 
as  he  slapped  on  the  blower  and  squatted  on 
his  heels  to  wait  the  fire's  catching,  "  lef  yuh  a 
lettah."  He  pointed  to  a  white  envelope  just 
under  Lawson's  fingers.  The  postman  had 
given  it  a  shove  through  the  slit  in  the  door- 
panel  made  for  such  uses,  and  it  had  slidden 
almost  to  Lawson's  fingers. 

He  took  it  listlessly,  turned  it  over,  and 
dropped  it  as  if  it  had  scorched  him.  Then 
he  picked  it  up  again,  looked  at  it  uncertainly ; 
as  he  read  it,  all  the  ghastliness  fled  from  his 
face. 

He  sprang  to  his  feet,  searched  for  his  suit- 
case and  wrenched  open  his  closet  door.    He 
thrust  some  few  clothes  in  the  case. 
234 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"John,"  he  commanded,  "let  that  fire  go 
out,  lock  up,  and  keep  everything  straight ! 
Straight,  now,  you  hear !  "  He  felt  for  a  bill 
and  flung  it  to  him. 

John's  fear  fled  at  the  sight  of  the  money. 
"  Dat  I  will,  Marse  Lawson,  dat  I  will.  I  '11 
tend  to  ever'ting.  Is  yuh  gwine  erway  fur 
Christmas?" 

Lawson  was  locking  his  suit-case;  he 
stopped  and  looked  at  the  negro  a  moment, 
strangely.  "  Yes,"  he  said,  slowly,  "  yes,  I  'm 
going  away  for  Christmas." 

The  professor  only  knew  there  was  an- 
other locked  door  on  the  corridor. 


235 


XIX 

THERE  were  many  other  locked  doors 
on  the  corridors  and  on  East  Range 
and  West  Range.     The  quadrangle 
looked   deserted.      Edward    Montague   had 
gone   home.     The   friendly   women   in   the 
other  houses  about   the   campus  were   too 
busied  in  household  doings  to  have  time  for 
visiting.     Frances  was  left  to  herself  and  to 
her  house. 

The  Christmas-tide  had  always  been  a 
joyful  holiday  for  her  father  and  for  herself, 
a  time  of  genuine  merry-making  and  of  real 
rest,  when  Susan's  cooking  provided  all  good 
things,  and  the  professor  allowed  himself  the 
luxury  of  lighter  reading,  and  the  two  of 
them  were  free  to  come  and  go  as  they 
chose.  Frances  was  brave  enough  and  proud 
enough  to  leave  no  part  of  any  preparation 
neglected ;  but  her  close-shut  lips  and  dark- 
circled  eyes  and  white  cheeks  smote  her 
father  as  nothing  else  could  have  done. 
236 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

After  a  few  brief  words  that  bitter  night 
there  was  nothing  more  he  could  say  to  her, 
and  to  watch  her  silent  fight  was  agony. 

Christmas  day  dragged  miserably.  The 
professor,  watching  his  daughter  furtively, 
felt  he  could  bear  it  no  longer.  He  laid 
down  the  book  Edward  Montague  had  sent 
him  as  a  holiday  gift  and  which  he  had 
been  making  some  pretence  of  reading. 
"  Frances,"  he  said  suddenly,  "  how  would 
you  like  to  go  to  Washington  ? " 

Frances     looked    up    astonished.      M  To 
Washington  ?  "  she  repeated. 

"  I  have  been  wanting  to  go  for  a  long 
time,"  her  father  went  on  hurriedly.  "  There 
are  some  books  in  the  Congressional  library 
I  want,  and  I  can  get  them  nowhere  else, 
some  manuscripts,  too.  I  never  seem  to  find 
the  opportunity  to  go.  Suppose  "  —  with 
boyish  impatience,  now  that  the  topic  was 
once  broached  — "  suppose  we  go  to- 
morrow ?  " 

There  were  tears  in  Frances'  eyes  she  did 
not  wish  her  father  to  see.     She  got  up  and 
went  to  the  back  of   his  chair  and  slipped 
237 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

her  arms  about  his  neck,  and  by  and  by  she 
laid  her  cheek  on  his  thick  black  hair  where 
the  gray  showed  in  the  waves.  Neither 
spoke. 

Then  the  professor  cleared  his  throat. 
"  Suppose  you  run  up  and  see  about  my 
things  and  yours;  we  can  take  an  early 
train  and  have  part  of  to-morrow  there." 

He  had  much  to  say  of  rare  books  on  the 
journey  next  day,  but  when  he  came  back 
and  met  his  friends  and  talked  of  his  holi- 
day, it  was  of  picture  galleries  and  concerts 
and  fine  new  buildings  he  spoke.  The  lis- 
tener would  have  guessed  few  hours  with 
rare  tomes,  and  would  have  guessed  cor- 
rectly. The  professor  had  spent  one  day  in 
the  library  he  had  been  longing  to  visit  for 
two  years,  and  that  he  spent  there  because 
Frances  declared  she  would  go  nowhere  else. 

When  Edward  Montague  came  from  his 
home  visit  and  brought  an  offering  of  a  fine 
old  ham  from  his  father,  over  which  Susan 
gloated  in  the  kitchen,  and  a  box  of  delicious 
cake  from  his  mother,  and  another  of  gera- 
niums and  violets  from  the  cherished  plants 
238 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

in  her  flower-pit,  the  professor  had  so  much 
to  say  that  the  young  man,  lost  in  the  bril- 
liant flow  of  criticism  and  description,  had 
no  time  to  notice  Frances'  quiet,  and  thought 
her  unwonted  pallor  no  more  than  the  result 
of  the  dissipation  her  father  so  gayly  talked 
of.  Montague  found  himself  in  his  old  po- 
sition in  the  household.  There  was  some- 
thing in  Frances  he  could  not  understand, 
but  her  manner  was  most  kind.  There  was 
a  new  friendliness,  too,  in  her  intercourse 
with  others.  Her  simple  content  no  longer 
made  a  shield  about  her;  instead,  the  care- 
less happiness  gone,  the  fight  with  sorrow 
bred  no  selfishness  in  her  generous  nature, 
but  brought  a  thoughtful  ness  for  others,  a 
gratitude  for  the  human  touch  and  the  little 
unnamable  kindnesses  that  link  friendly  folk 
to  their  kind.  She  found,  too,  a  pleasure 
she  had  not  dreamed  in  the  simple  neighbor- 
liness  of  other  households. 

Lawson,  back  at  the  University,  was  an 

alien,  who,  failing  to  find  his  place  amongst 

them,  was  again  one  of  the  student  world. 

But  he  was  one  of  the  students  of  whom  the 

239 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

professors  were  beginning  to  talk.  He  re- 
signed from  the  eleven,  doing  no  practice 
work  now,  and  settled  to  grim,  hard  study 
that  in  a  month  showed  good  results  and 
promised  the  brilliancy  the  Faculty  had  half 
suspected  and  half  despaired  of.  The  men 
who  found  the  way  to  his  room  expecting 
something  of  the  old  cheer,  found  the  way 
out  again,  and  kept  it.  There  was  nothing 
in  the  reticent,  haughty  fellow,  who  had  cut 
athletics  and  cut  the  women,  too,  and  settled 
down  to  a  steady  grind,  to  attract  them. 

His  room  lay  up  the  corridor;  he  changed 
his  dining-hall,  there  was  no  duty  to  take 
him  down  the  quadrangle,  and  he  kept  to 
his  own  way. 

He  avoided  Frances,  but  he  saw  her 
oftener  than  she  knew.  When  he  saw  what 
he  read  rightly  as  the  heart-ache  that  showed 
upon  her  face,  the  baser  part  of  him  cried 
out  with  a  great  temptation.  When  he  saw, 
later  on,  the  flicker  of  color  in  her  cheek,  the 
spring  in  her  walk,  he  thanked  God  that  he 
had  not  yielded  to  that  cry.  He  had  never 
spoken  more  than  a  word  of  greeting.  He 
240 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

had  met  her  father  somewhere  on  the 
grounds,  and,  though  he  had  doffed  his  cap 
readily,  his  bow  was  as  cold  as  the  profes- 
sor's was. 

But  when  he  saw  Frances  going  about 
with  something  of  her  old  cheerful  air  he 
ceased  to  avoid  her.     It  was  not  necessary, 
he  told  himself,  with  bitter  self-disdain.     And 
when  he  glimpsed  her  one  day  walking  in 
from  town  through  the  gates  and  along  the 
way  they  had  come  in  the  autumn  days,  he 
walked  straight  on,  bowed,  and  passed  her. 
He  saw  her  startled  eyes,  for  she  had  been 
looking  down  and  walking  slowly,  and  de- 
spite his  pride  he  turned  and  watched,  half 
longing  he  might  walk  by  her  side  along  the 
ribbony  path  under  the  arching  trees.     He 
knew,  with  sudden   swift   memory,  that  so 
the  skies  had  looked,  primrose  on  the  hori- 
zon  and  in  the  west   clear  green   and   far 
above  the  blue,   and  so  the  bare  branches 
had  rocked  against  the  sky  as  they  walked 
home  together.     But  Frances1  footsteps  were 
quickened.     So!  he  would  go  his  way.     And 
Frances,  hurrying  faster  and  faster,  fleeing 
16  241 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

the  very  memories  he  was  recalling,  and 
yet  carrying  them  with  her,  felt  her  hard- 
won  control  gone  at  a  breath.  As  one  who 
strives  and  strives,  and  believes  he  has  at 
last  attained,  faces,  at  some  unthought-of 
trifle,  failure,  —  it  is  not  always  failure;  it  is 
often  fear  which  shakes  him,  and  which, 
when  it  is  conquered,  leaves  the  bulwark 
higher  and  firmer. 

But  Frances  ran  past  Susan  at  the  door  and 
up  the  stair.  Her  heavy  furs  were  stifling 
her ;  she  flung  them  off.  What  should  she 
do?  she  was  asking  herself  wildly.  Own 
herself  defeated,  say  to  herself  there  was  a 
voice  in  her  heart  stronger  than  all  else? 
She  threw  herself  face  downwards  on  her 
bed,  and  shook  with  her  sobbing;  and 
though  her  cries  were  stifled,  Susan,  in  the 
hall  where  she  had  stolen,  startled,  scared  at 
what  she  had  seen  in  Frances'  face,  Susan 
heard. 

Susan  went  softly  back  down  the  stair- 
way. "  Lord,"  she  moaned  as  she  wrung  her 
skinny  hands,  "  Lord,  what  we  gwine  do 
now  ?  Dyar  's  Marse  Robert  away,  an'  a  good 
242 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

thing  too;  dyar's  no  mother,  nuthin'  but  me, 
Lord,  what  ts  I  gwine  do  ? " 

She  picked  up  an  armful  of  wood  and 
went  upstairs. 

"  Honey,"  she  declared  briskly  as  she 
opened  the  door,  "  Ise  gwine  mek  yo'  fiah,  it 's 
gittin'  col',  fer  shuah!"  She  fussed  about 
the  hearth,  clattering  tongs  and  shovel,  and 
though  there  were  no  sobs  from  the  bed, 
there  was  no  word.  Susan  was  fairly  beside 
herself.  She  swept  the  hearth,  the  fire  was 
aglow.  She  walked  slowly  to  the  footboard 
and  folded  her  thin  arms  on  it  and  looked 
down  at  the  face  beneath  her.  The  eyes 
were  closed,  the  lids  red  with  weeping,  the 
lashes  wet,  and  the  mouth  trembling  piti- 
fully. Susan  looked  long  and  searchingly. 
There  was  suffering  she  saw  there,  suffering 
that  she  knew  the  hall-mark  of,  but  there 
was  not  the  dumb  white  look  of  heart- 
break. Frances  had  been  nearer  that  a 
month  ago. 

The  old  woman  drew  a  long  breath  of  re- 
lief.    She  pulled  Frances'  own  low  chair  to 
the  bedside  and  sat  down  in  it 
243 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Honey,"  she  said,  "  yuh  must  n't  do  so, 
't  will  brek  Marse  Robert's  heart."  But  her 
only  answer  was  a  fresh  sobbing.  "  I  don't 
min'  seein'  yuh  cry,  no ;  't  will  do  yuh  good, 
but  folks  dat  don't  cry  much,  cries  hard ;  an' 
when  yuh 's  done,  yuh  mus'  stay  done ! 

"'T ain't  meant,"  she  went  on,  "fer  young 
folks  to  go  wid  long  faces,  no;  not  till  dey 
knows  what  sorrow  is." 

"  Sorrow  ! "  sobbed  the  girl. 

"  Sorrow,  real  downright  sorrow ;  does  yuh 
know  what  '  t  is,  honey  ?  No !  an'  I  hopes 
to  Gawd  yuh  nebber  will.  'T  is  to  see  de 
chile  on  yo'  lap  a-dyin',  a-dyin'  day  by  day, 
an'  yuh  sittin'  dyar,  an'  knowin'  dat  all  yuh 
can  do  is  to  watch  de  life  fluttering  'til  by  an' 
by  it 's  gone !  an'  den  to  know  dat  nobody 
cares  but  yuh ;  't  is  to  see  de  man  yuh  done 
married  to  wo'thless,  lazy ;  to  see  yo'  chillun 
hungry,  an'  to  feel  yo'  bones  achin'  as  yuh 
wuks  an'  wuks  to  buy  'em  vittils,  an'  den 
fer  dat  man  what  ought  ter  be  wukkin,  too, 
to  tek  dat  money  an'  spen'  it,  maybe  on 
some  fool  'oman  ;  to  see  him  die  jis'  as  he 
libed,  no  bettah,  no  wus ;  to  see  yo'  chile 
244 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

yuh  's  raised  go  off  an'  sen'  no  word  back." 
The  old  woman  was  rocking  to  and  fra 
She  was  telling  the  tale  of  sorrows  which 
wrung  her  heart  when  she  lived  them  and 
wrung  it  now  to  recall ;  and  she  was  doing 
it  purposely,  with  keen  watchful  glance,  to 
rouse  that  other  sorrower  to  thoughts 
beyond  herself. 

She  could  see  nothing  gained.  She 
sobered  herself  and  looked  down  on  the 
knotted  hands  in  her  lap.  She  made  up 
her  mind. 

"  Miss  Frances,"  she  said,  so  suddenly  and 
so  decidedly  that  the  girl  there  on  the  bed 
started  and  opened  her  eyes,  "  Miss  Frances, 
is  yuh  moanin'  fer  yo'self  or  is  yuh  moanin' 
fur  somebody  else  ?  If  yuh  's  moanin'  fur 
yo'sef,  hab  it  out  an'  be  done  wid  it ! " 
There  was  a  touch  of  asperity  in  Susan's 
voice ;  it  had  hurt  her  that  Frances  seemed 
so  untouched. 

44  But  if  yuh  's  moanin'  fur  some  man,  he 
ain't  wuth  it,  dat  he  ain't  I "  looking  straight 
into  Frances'  startled  eyes;  "dyar  ain't  no  man 
in  dis  worl'  wuth  breakin'  yo*  heart  about." 
245 


A   GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

"  I  shall  not  break  my  heart,"  said  Frances 
proudly. 

"  I  guess  Ise  got  sense  ernuff  to  know 
dat !  but  if  yuh  's  a-pinin  'cause  yuh  's  feard 
yuh  hurt  someone  else,  't  ain't  wuth  nary  tear. 
Dyar  ain't  a  man  a-libin',  spite  o'  all  his 
swearin'  an'  tearin'  aroun',  dat 's  gwine  to 
moan  all  his  days,  as  he  's  eberlastin'  'clarin' 
he  's  gwine  to  do,  ober  any  'oman ;  an'  no 
'oman  ain't  got  no  bizness  to,  neider." 

"  You  must  think,  Susan,  I  —  I  am  not 
so  conceited  as  to  think  anybody  will  go 
4  moanin'  '  for  me, "  angrily. 

"  Ise  jes'  talkin',"  said  Susan,  unshaken. 

"  There  's  father,"  declared  Frances  with 
sudden  energy,  "  he  never  —  you  know  he 
never  loved  any  one  but  my  mother,"  she 
said  the  last  words  very  tenderly. 

"  He  's  had  his  books,"  sagely,  "  an'  he  's 
had  his  chile,  an'  he  's  had  me  to  look  after 
de  house. 

"  'Long  when  I  was  a  gal,"  went  on  the 

old  darkey,  as  if  in  pure  reminiscence,  "  an 

'oman  if  she  did  n't  hab  'er  fambly  to  look 

after,  an'  was  too  ole  to  go  cavortin'  'roun', 

246 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

did  n't  hab  nuthin'  to  do  but  sit  erroun'  an' 
stay  in  de  pa's  house  or  de  brother's  an'  be 
tookin'  cyar  of;  an'  dey  'd  be  wishin'  all  de 
time  dey  'd  took  dis  one  or  dat  one  or  any 
one,  so  's  not  to  come  to  dis.  But  laws- 
a-me !  if  yuh  don't  git  married  nowadays, 
dyar  's  a  plenty  to  be  a-doin1 !  Dyar's  Miss 
Robin  —  Honey,  does  yuh  ebber  specs  to 
be  married  ? " 

She  saw  the  indignant  flash  of  Frances* 
eyes,  and  chuckled  inwardly.  She  would  n't 
be  crying  there  long  at  that  rate.  The 
tears  were  gone  now,  and  soon  the  marks 
of  them  would  be. 

"  Does  yuh  think  yuh  'd  like  to  git  mar- 
ried ? "  protested  the  old  woman  remorse- 
lessly, "  'cause,  if  yuh  do  't  is  time  yuh  was 
lookin'  aroun'  !  " 

"  Dyar,  ef  dat  don't  fotch  her,"  declared 
Susan  to  herself,  "nuttin'  will!"  But  it 
did. 

Frances  sat  upright.  She  had  a  whole- 
some respect  for  matrimony,  and  the  speech 
had  told.  "  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Jes'  what  I  says !  "  calmly.     "  Dyar  's  two 
247 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

or  three  young  men  Ise  got  my  eye  on ;  some 
o'  dem  is  mighty  nice  I " 

Susan  knew,  perfectly  well,  the  only  matri- 
monial danger  she  had  ever  feared  for  her 
darling  had  passed,  but  she  should  n't  pine 
for  that  one,  not  as  long  as  the  old  darkey 
had  breath  in  her  body. 

"  I  tell  yuh,  Miss  Frances,"  she  said,  "  I 
suttenly  is  sorry  fur  young  gals  ;  dey  goes 
erlong  so  bright  an'  so  easy,  eberything 
their  way,  an'  when  dey  runs  up  all  a-sudden 
on  a  big  wall  dat  's  got  '  trouble '  writ  all 
ercross  it,  dey  don't  know  how  to  get  erroun' 
it  nohow.  Den,  too,  it  suttenly  does  seem 
to  me  dey  has  some  mighty  hard  questions 
to  settle  when  dey  know  a  mighty  little,  a 
mighty  little." 

Frances  slipped  to  the  side  of  the  bed  and 
put  her  hand  lovingly  on  the  old  darkey's 
knee. 

"  Susan,"  she  said,  with  a  look  that  told  the 
old  darkey  how  thoroughly  understood  she 
was,  "  you  have  wasted  enough  time  on  me." 

Susan    was   instantly  conscious   and   em- 
barrassed.    "La,  Miss  Frances!" 
248 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

41  But  I  sha'n't  forget  it,  nor  all  the  other 
things  —  all  the  other  things,  you  know,  since 
I  was  so  high  !  "  spreading  out  her  hands  in 
a  line  with  the  height  of  the  bed. 

"  I  'clar',  Miss  Frances  —  " 

"  And  now,  even  if  I  don't  want  to  get 
married  —  " 

"  La  !  listen  to  her  !  " 

Frances  got  to  her  feet  briskly,  "  Bring  me 
some  hot  water,  Susan,"  she  said  in  her  every- 
day cheerful  manner,  "  and  I  know  you  are 
dying  to  get  to  the  kitchen." 

The  breach  was  rebuilt.  The  bulwark 
was  higher. 


XX 

SUSAN,  as  she  told  her  troubles  for  an- 
other's healing,  thought  of  them  as 
past  and  gone.  There  was  a  fresh  sor- 
row at  her  door.  She  asked  for  an  after- 
noon's holiday,  got  it,  and  went  away.  She 
came  back,  ashy  and  shaken. 

"  Marse  Robert,"  she  told  him,  soon  as 
he  and  Frances  came  in  the  hall  door, "  Ise 
gwine  leab  yuh." 

They  stood  too  astonished  for  speech. 

"  Ise  gwine  leab  yuh  !  "  The  old  woman 
steadied  herself  against  the  frame  of  the 
library  door.  "  Bill —  he  's  come  back  !  " 

"  He  has !  "  said  the  professor  testily. 

"  An'  he  's  sick,  an'  he  's  got  no  home." 

"And  you  feel  yourself  called  on  to  take 
care  of  him  ?  " 

"  Who  else  gwine  do  it  ?  Ise  gwine  tek 
him  home !" 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  Out  there  !  "  exclaimed  Frances,  in  dis- 
may, and  then  she  asked  practically.  "  What 's 
the  matter  with  him  ?  " 

"  De  Lawd  only  knows !  He 's  jes'  all 
crippled  up,  an'  his  —  Lawd !  Lawd ! "  The 
old  woman  broke  into  loud  sobbing. 

"  Now,  Susan!"  comforted  Frances,  " don't 
worry ;  of  course  you  want  to  go,  and  you 
shall." 

"  I  done  sont  word  to  Roxie  to  come  hyar 
an'  cook  fur  you." 

"  I  'm  glad  of  that !  "  said  the  professor. 
He  had  little  sympathy  with  the  prodigal 
who  only  came  back  to  be  a  care. 

"  I  '11  carry  you  both  out  to-morrow,"  de- 
clared Frances,  "but  don't  you  think  you 
ought  to  go  and  warm  the  place  up  and  get 
everything  comfortable  ?  " 

"  He  ain't  so  bad  as  he  was,"  said  Susan 
meekly,  "he  been  in  de  horsepittle  a  month, 
he  said." 

"  And  now  they  have  discharged  him,  he  's 
come  down  here  on  you  ! " 

"  Marse  Robert,  he  said  —  "    She  stopped, 
knowing   the   flimsiness    of    Bill's   excuses, 
251 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  He 's  de  onliest  chile  Ise  got,"  she  added 
sullenly. 

"All  right!  all  right."  The  professor  took 
off  his  hat  and  coat  and  hung  them  up 
carefully. 

"  I  specs  yuh  thinks  ernough  o'  yours  I  " 
blazed  the  old  woman. 

"  There,  father ! "  Frances  laughed  as  she 
slipped  her  hand  through  his  arm,  "you 
have  n't  a  word  to  say ! " 

The  professor  was  cornered.  "  That 's 
so ! "  he  acknowledged,  as  he  looked  proudly 
at  Frances'  bright  cheeks  and  eyes  —  not 
so  careless  as  he  had  seen  their  glances,  but 
with  a  sweeter  thoughtfulness  looking  out  of 
their  dark,  gray  depths. 

"  Well,  Susan,  you  '11  come  back  some  day, 
I  suppose  ? " 

"  Soon  as  he  gits  well ! " 

"  Then,  if  there 's  anything  you  need  —  " 

Frances  looked  back  over  her  shoulder  and 
laughed.  She  had  already  begun  to  say,  "Su- 
san, you  must  take  sheets  and  blankets  —  " 

"  I  got  plenty  dyar." 

"  But  they  must  be  damp  and  musty." 
252 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  Bill  says  't  was  de  rhumatiz,"  put  in  his 
mother. 

"And  take  what  you  need  right  away  out 
of  the  pantry." 

"  Miss  Frances,  if  yuh  '11  jes'  go  into  town 
an'  buy  me  some  things,  Ise  got  plenty  o* 
money,  Marse  Robert  so  good  to  me,  an'  he 
pays  me  my  wages  steady ;  Ise  jis'  been  sav- 
in' 'em  up.  Here 's  ten  dollars  now."  She 
felt  in  the  folds  of  her  turban  and  brought 
out  the  bill. 

Frances'  hands  were  full  for  many  days ; 
she  had  to  take  the  old  woman  and  Bill  out  to 
the  cabin,  to  help  straighten  it,  and  air  it,  and 
stock  it  with  provisions,  to  go  out  day  by 
day  at  first,  and  then  whenever  she  could ; 
and  to  straighten  out  household  affairs  with 
Roxie  at  the  helm. 

"How  dat  Roxie  doing?"  asked  Susan 
anxiously  on  one  of  Frances*  visits. 

Frances  hesitated.  "Fairly  well!"  she 
answered  doubtfully. 

"  H'm !     Ise  glad  I  taught  yuh  to  cook." 

"So  am   I!"  declared  Frances  devoutly, 
remembering  some  of  her  late  experiences. 
353 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

11  Don't  yuh  let  her  gib  Marse  Robert  sech 
po'  vittels  he  '11  git  sick ! " 

"  One  pet  at  a  time,  Susan,  is  enough," 
teased  Frances  with  a  glance  through  the 
opened  cabin  door  at  Bill  warming  his  "  rhu- 
matiz  "  limbs  before  a  glowing  fire  and  look- 
ing the  picture  of  lazy  comfort. 

Susan  turned  away  discomfited,  but  only 
for  an  instant.  "Hi-yi!"  she  cried,  "  who 's 
dat  comin'  down  de  lane  ?  'Fore  de  Lawd  if 
't  ain't  Marse  Edward.  I  'clar',"  she  went  on, 
watching  Frances'  reddening  cheek  with  sat- 
isfaction, "he  suttinly  has  been  good  to  us. 
We 's  been  hyar  nigh  'pon  fo'  weeks,  an' 
ebery  now  an'  den  —  Mornin',  Marse 
Edward." 

Frances  walked  quickly  down  the  narrow 
pathway  to  where  Starlight  was  fastened  to 
the  fence. 

"  Yuh  need  n't  be  in  sech  a  hurry  ! "  grum- 
bled Susan. 

"  Wait !  "  called  young  Montague,  who  had 

seen  the  manoeuvre.     "  I  'm  going  into  town 

for  my  mail ! "  he  declared,  soon  as  he  flung 

himself  from  the  horse ;  "  don't  you  want  to 

254 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

ride  Lady  ?  Here,  Susan,  I  shot  this,  this 
morning ;  you  can  make  Bill  his  rabbit  stew 
now!" 

"  La,  Marse  Edward,  Bill  suttinly  will  be 
glad." 

"  How  is  he  ?  You  will  wait  a  moment?  " 
he  hurried  into  the  cabin  and  out  again. 
The  valley  below  lay  bathed  in  misty  sun- 
shine, the  green  of  the  grass  by  the  stream 
and  the  red  tips  of  the  branches  on  border- 
ing willow  and  shrub  showed  where  the  Feb- 
ruary sun  shone  longest  and  strongest.  To 
young  Montague,  valley  and  hazy  mountain 
peaks  and  the  hillside  cabin  were  a  fair 
winter's  scene,  and  the  girl  waiting  there  by 
the  gray  weather-worn  fence  was  the  heart 
of  it. 

"  I  will  be  ready  in  a  moment,"  he  declared, 
as  with  deft  fingers  he  unbuckled  the  saddle- 
girth  from  his  horse. 

"  Is  there  anything  else  Bill  would  like  ?  " 
he  questioned,  as  he  fastened  Starlights 
saddle  on  his  own  horse. 

Susan  hesitated  for  a  moment 

"  Any  game  ?  " 

255 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  Bill,  he  did  say,"  the  old  woman  an- 
swered hesitatingly,  "as  how  he  was  honing 
for  a  'possum.  Dey  ain't  good  much  now." 

"  But  a  'possum  he  shall  have.  Are  you 
ready  ?  "  to  Frances. 

He  held  his  hand  and  tossed  her  into  the 
saddle.  "  Good-by  !  "  Frances  called.  "  I  '11 
be  out  again  soon.  Good-by !  " 

The  old  darkey  stood  watching  them. 
"  Lawd,  if  eber  two  folks  was  made  fer  one 
'nother,"  she  said  to  herself,  "  dyar  dey  is ; 
Miss  Frances  she 's  jis'  naturally  born  to  rule 
some  man  in  dat  sassy,  sweet  way  she  got, 
an'  Marse  Edward  he  look  lak  he  suttinly 
would  lak  to  be  dat  man  ;  but  Miss  Frances," 
the  old  darkey  shook  her  head,  "  I  don't 
know  'bout  her,  dat  I  don't." 

Miss  Frances  was  putting  Lady  through 
her  paces,  despite  red  clay  and  mire  and  shal- 
low pools  where  the  water  yet  stood.  Heavy 
black  clouds  were  shouldering  above  the 
mountain  peaks ;  the  wind  was  from  the  east 
and  stung  sharply  against  their  faces. 

"  It 's  going  to  rain,"  declared  Frances, 
anxiously. 

256 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  Oh,  not  to-day."  Montague  was  seeing 
nothing  of  brown  sodden  fields  or  long 
stretch  of  red  road ;  he  was  wondering,  won- 
dering if  he  dared  translate  to  speech  the 
wild  beatings  of  his  heart. 

But  the  swift  ride  and  Frances'  gay 
speeches  gave  him  little  chance ;  the  cloud, 
forming  long  out  of  sight  and  coming  up 
with  ominous  swiftness,  made  fast  riding  im- 
perative; the  red  clay  splashed  them  from 
head  to  foot;  the  wind,  strong  and  damp 
and  chill,  whipped  the  loosened  tendrils  of 
Frances'  hair  about  her  face  and  billowed 
her  short  riding-skirt  Before  they  reached 
town  the  first  drops  were  falling. 

41  We  had  better  ride  straight  to  the  sta- 
bles," Frances  suggested. 

"  No,  I  '11  send  up  for  Lady  at  once.  I  'm 
going  for  my  mail." 

"  Then  you  'd  better  go  that  way ;  I  '11  take 
this  road."  Frances  bent  above  the  saddle; 
the  rain  was  lashing  her  face. 

When  Montague  reached  the  University 
the  rain   had   become  a  steady   downpour. 
Frances  had  to   leave  him  to  entertain  him- 
17  357 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

self  while  she  straightened  the  household 
affairs,  which  Roxie  had  tangled  in  her  ab- 
sence. The  professor,  coming  in,  was  de- 
lighted to  find  him  in  the  library. 

"  I  declare,"  he  said,  "  I  was  just  wishing 
you  were  here.  There  are  some  things  I 
want  to  ask  you  about,  and  I  have  a  leisure 
afternoon.  We  can  go  down  town  after 
dinner." 

"  In  this  storm  ?  "  protested  Frances,  who 
had  just  come  in  through  the  dining-room 
door. 

"  Pooh  !  What  does  that  matter  ?  Edward 
is  too  good  a  countryman  for  that" 

Truth  was,  the  professor  was  intent  on  in- 
vesting money  in  a  new  stock  company 
forming  in  town  for  putting  up  an  ice  plant ; 
and  as  he  had  been  bitten  once  or  twice,  and 
as  he  had  a  good  opinion  of  Montague's 
shrewd  business  judgment  and  enjoyed  also 
the  companionship  with  him,  he  had  been 
hoping  for  some  such  chance.  They  were 
off  soon  as  the  meal  was  over.  From  office 
to  bank,  from  investor  to  stock  floater  they 
went.  Once  in  town  the  weather  did  not 
258 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

matter;  but  coming  back  on  the  long  walk 
from  the  cars  across  the  grounds,  the  storm 
struck  them  squarely,  lashed  and  drenched 
them.  At  his  door  the  professor  drew  a 
long  breath.  "  Pretty  severe,"  he  declared. 
"  Edward,  you  'd  better  stay  in  to-night.  Tele- 
phone to  the  stables  about  your  horse,  and 
stay.  We  '11  take  care  of  you  gladly  enough." 

The  wind  and  rain  lashing  along  the 
corridor  and  across  the  quadrangle  argued 
with  him. 

"  I  scarcely  know,"  said  Montague  slowly, 
as  they  thankfully  closed  the  door  behind 
them. 

Frances,  coming  down  the  stairway,  heard. 
There  was  a  line  of  anxiety  on  her  forehead. 
"  I  have  been  thinking  of  Susan,"  she  began, 
as  she  reached  the  last  stair. 

"  She 's  safe  enough." 

"  But  it 's  so  dreary,  and  the  wind  and  rain 
are  beating  so  furiously." 

"Just  look  at  us!  Edward,  I'd  offer 
you  a  suit,  only  — "  The  older  man  mea- 
sured the  younger's  height  with  a  laughing 
glance. 

259 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"  No  matter,"  Montague  assured  him,  "and 
as  for  Susan,"  to  Frances,  "  you  need  not 
be  uneasy.  The  cabin  looked  comfortable 
enough  to-day,  and  it  has  weathered  many 
storms." 

Frances'  real  fear  was  of  the  stream  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill  that  must  be  a  raging  torrent 
now,  of  the  narrow  bridge,  and  the  tale  her 
father  had  told  her  that  moonlit  night  as  she 
drove  across. 

"  This  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous  places 
in  the  country,"  he  had  said ;  "  Mason  was 
drowned  here ;  he  rode  into  town  one  day, 
and  a  heavy  storm  came  up.  When  he  rode 
back  at  dusk  he  saw  the  water  out  and 
ventured  on.  He  was  swept  away.  Miss 
Marion  too ;  she  would  have  gotten  over 
safely,  but  she  mistook  the  bridge ; "  and 
Frances,  shivering  at  his  side,  had  begged 
him  to  hush.  Now  she  seemed  to  hear  it 
over  and  over  again,  through  the  howling  of 
the  wind  and  the  lashing  of  the  rain. 

"  You  will  not  venture  home  to-night  ? " 
she  asked  young  Montague  anxiously. 

Edward,  looking  into  her  eyes,  dark  and 
rto 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

grave  and  troubled  as  they  were,  lost  his 
head.  "  Not  if  you  say  so,"  he  began  un- 
steadily. Frances,  startled  at  his  tone,  and 
the  sudden  flashing  light  of  his  blue  eyes, 
shrank  back. 

"  If  you  say  —  "  he  began  again. 

"  Come  into  the  fire,  man ;  don't  stay  out 
there  in  the  cold,  wet  as  you  are."  The 
professor's  knees  were  already  smoking 
before  the  hot  coals. 

He  had  lost  his  opportunity ;  but  slow  to 
decide  and  swift  to  act,  once  the  decision 
was  made,  he  resolved  to  find  it  once  more 
—  to  make  it  if  necessary.  He  made  it. 
In  the  evening  Frances  pushed  back  her 
chair.  "I  must  go  and  see  Roxie  about 
breakfast,"  she  said  reluctantly.  The  group 
about  the  fireside,  the  fire,  the  bright  lights, 
while  the  storm  beat  without,  were  very 
attractive. 

Edward  rose  too.  "  I  wanted  to  ask  you," 
he  began  as  he  walked  across  the  room  and 
held  aside  the  portiere,  letting  it  fall  behind 
them,  and  closing  the  door  likewise,  "I 
wanted  to  ask  you,"  as  if  it  were  an  every- 
261 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

day  matter  at  first,  but  then  his  tone  sud- 
denly changed,  "  to  marry  me  !  " 

A  ripple  of  laughter,  half  hysterical,  broke 
from  Frances'  lips.  She  had  expected  a  ques- 
tion of  his  domestic  affairs.  It  was,  but  not 
of  the  kind  she  thought.  She  steadied  her- 
self against  the  dining-table.  "  I  thought 
you  wanted  —  " 

"  I  want  your  —  self,"  he  insisted. 

The  crucial  winter  days  had  taught  Fran- 
ces a  bitter  humility  and  distrust  of  herself. 
Her  lip  trembled.  "  I  am  not  worth  giving." 

"  You  will  trust  me  to  decide,"  coming  a 
step  nearer,  a  light  of  hope  in  his  face,  and 
then,  seeing  that  her  own  nervous  fear  was 
greater  than  his,  he  took  his  reticence  in 
both  hands. 

"  I  love  you,"  he  said  very  low,  for  remem- 
brance of  that  other  who  might  be  auditor. 
"  You  know  it !  "  She  shook  her  head.  "  You 
should  !  I  think  I  have  loved  you  from  that 
moment  when  I  held  you."  Unconscious  of 
the  gesture,  he  held  out  his  arms  and  looked 
down  upon  his  breast.  Frances,  remember- 
ing how  she  had  been  sheltered,  saved  there, 
262 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

felt  the  hot  tears  stinging  under  her  droop- 
ing lids. 

"  Don't  think  of  me,"  she  pleaded,  none  the 
less  wildly  for  her  whispering,  "don't  think 
of  it.  I  —  I  will  be  —  " 

"Don't  talk  of  friendship!  Don't  dare! 
I  '11  never  be  your  friend !  " 

Frances  shrank  back,  hurt,  affrighted. 

He  came  closer  to  her,  leaned  over,  his 
eyes  searching  her  face.  M  Because  I  shall 
always  love  you,  always,  and  I  '11  never  give 
you  up  either.  Never  !  I  shall  always  hope, 
strive  for  you,  unless,"  he  added  brokenly, 
"  the  day  comes  when  you  marry  some  other 
man.  But,"  he  pleaded,  "you  will  not,  you  will 
not."  He  slipped  his  hand  over  hers  where 
it  rested  on  the  table,  "  And  I  love  you,  will 
love  you  always ! "  He  waited  a  second  in 
silence,  straightened  himself,  and,  though  he 
was  deathly  white,  smiled  at  her.  Then  he 
turned  on  his  heel  and  went  softly  out  of  the 
room. 

Before  Frances  could  waken  Roxie,  asleep 
before  the  kitchen  fire,  she  heard  the  outer 
door  slam.  She  ran  out  into  the  hall.  Her 
263 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

father  stood  there,  anxious  perplexity  in  his 
face. 

"  Edward  has  gone !  "  he  cried  in  dismay. 

"  Gone !  Father,  why  did  you  let  him  ? 
Why  did  n't  you  make  him  stay  ?  " 

"  He  did  n't  give  me  a  chance  "  —  the  pro- 
fessor was  thoroughly  provoked  —  "just  said 
he  was  going !  Listen ! "  as  door  and  win- 
dow rattled  in  a  great  gust  and  they  could 
hear  the  rain  lashing  across  the  quadrangle 
and  beating  on  corridor  and  house-top. 

Frances  could  find  no  word  to  say  of  the 
horror  and  fear  which  possessed  her,  re- 
membering all  the  way  he  would  go  through 
the  storm  homewards,  the  desolate  road  and 
wind-whipped,  bleak  fields  and  woods,  and, 
down  there  between  the  hills,  the  narrow 
valley,  torrent-riven. 


264 


XXI 

AT  the   breakfast   the   professor    was 
irritably  anxious.     M  I  wish  I  knew 
of  some  way  of  getting  at  Montague 
this  morning ;  he  ought  to  have  a  telephone 
put  in!" 

44  You  know  why  he  does  n't,"  said  Frances 
gently. 

"  I  could  n't  sleep  last  night,  thinking  of 
him." 

The  cup  Frances  held  clattered  in  her 
trembling  hands.  Sleep !  She  remembered 
the  big  fire,  the  bright  light  she  had  kept  all 
the  night ;  she  remembered  how  she  had 
walked  her  room,  had  undressed,  gone  to 
bed,  gotten  up,  dressed  again,  and  sat  by 
the  fire  shaking  like  the  trees  outside  before 
the  heavy  blasts ;  remembered  how  she  had 
resented  the  blue  of  the  sky,  and  the  rose  of 
the  sunrise  flushing  the  east,  while  far  off 
the  fringe  of  heavy  clouds  fled  away,  when 
she  flung  open  the  shutters  to  the  morning; 
265 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

and  how  every  moment  since  she  had  held 
herself  tense,  listening,  straining,  for  the 
tragedy  she  felt  the  night  held. 

"  That  old  woman  might  attend  to  the 
'phone,"  said  her  father,  going  back  to  his 
grievance.  Montague  had  said  long  ago 
that  with  his  all  morning  and  all  afternoon 
absences  from  the  house  while  his  work 
took  him  from  field  to  vineyard,  from  vine- 
yard to  mountain-top,  a  telephone  was 
useless. 

"  I  think  I  '11  call  up  Frazier,"  he  said  at 
last,  as  he  pushed  back  his  chair,  "  he 's 
near  and  might  know." 

"  Father,  you  must  not ;  he  would  never 
understand  his  trying  to  reach  home  last 
night." 

"  Neither  do  I ! " 

"  You  '11  hear  soon  enough,  if  there  's  any- 
thing to  hear." 

"  I  shall  be  uneasy  until  I  do." 

Uneasy!    Frances  worked  that  morning  as 

she  had  never  done  in  her  life,  swept,  dusted, 

cleaned  from  one  room  to  another.     Susan 

would  not   have   allowed  the   labor   for   an 

266 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

hour ;  Roxie  was  glad  enough  to  get  it  done 
for  her.  Frances  worked,  piling  up  the 
moments,  worked,  and  yet  heard  every  foot- 
step in  the  corridor  outside;  at  each  fresh 
footfall  her  heart  beat  to  suffocation,  then 
as  they  died  away  she  drew  long  breaths 
and  turned  to  her  tasks.  At  last,  beyond  the 
noon,  the  telephone  rang.  Frances  had  the 
receiver  at  her  ear,  before  the  ringing 
stopped. 

"  Hello !  "  she  called,  "  who  is  it  ?  " 

"  Frazier !  "  The  receiver  almost  fell  from 
her  hand. 

"  Well !  "  and  over  the  long  distance  wire 
faintly  was  coming,  "  that  old  woman,  Susan, 
sent  a  boy  over  here  just  now,  and  said  to 
'phone  you  to  come  out  there  right  away 
and  bring  the  doctor!" 

"  Bill,"  said  the  girl  to  herself,  with  a  sob- 
bing sigh  of  relief. 

"All  right!"  she  called,  "I'll  come  at 
once!" 

"  Bill  is  worse,"  she  told  herself,  as  with 
trembling  hands  she  rang  up  first  the  stables, 
and  then  the  doctor. 

267 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

The  doctor  would  go ;  she  would  call  for 
him  at  once. 

Before  she  turned  away,  her  father  opened 
the  door. 

On  his  face  she  saw  the  tragedy  she 
awaited. 

"  Montague  is  drowned  !  "  he  cried.  "  My 
God ! "  for  Frances  had  gone  down  in  a  heap 
on  the  hall  floor,  the  receiver  swinging  from 
side  to  side  where  she  wrenched  it  as  she  fell. 
"  Susan  !  Roxie !  bring  me  some  water  ! " 

"  No !  "  Frances  was  struggling  upright, 
"  let  me  go,  father !  I  don't  want  anything  !  " 
to  Roxie  ;  "  go  on  !  "  she  waved  her  back  to 
the  kitchen  impatiently.  "  How  did  you 
hear  ?  "  she  whispered  as  the  scared  darkey 
shut  the  door  behind  her. 

"  His  horse  was  found  this  morning,  drip- 
ping, spent,  riderless."  The  professor  was 
white  as  his  daughter.  "I  —  I  must  tele- 
graph his  father !  " 

"Don't!"  pleaded  Frances,  "don't;  he 
might  be  safe  yet  somewhere ! " 

The  professor  cut  her  short  with  a  motion 
of  his  hand.  "  If  he  were,  don't  you  suppose 
268 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

we  'd  know !     And   he  left  my  house !  "  he 
said  bitterly. 

Frances'  head  drooped. 

"What  will  his  father  think  of  me?"  he 
added. 

It  was  not  of  others'  words  she  was  think- 
ing ;  it  was  what  her  own  heart  was  telling 
her  in  great  heavy  throbs.  "You  have 
killed  him  !  You  killed  him  1 " 

She  put  her  hands  up  dully  to  her  ears, 
but  the  sound  was  only  the  louder. 

"  Frances !  "  Something  in  her  face,  her 
heavy  drooping  as  she  started  up  the  stair 
frightened  her  father,  "  What  are  you  going 
to  do?" 

"  I  am  going  out  to  Susan's;  she  sent  foi 
me  to  bring  the  doctor  out." 

"You  'd  better  let  him  go  alone." 

"  I  'm  sure  Susan  wants  me,  or  she  would 
never  have  given  such  a  message.  If  there 
is  anything  I  can  do  for  her  I  ought  to  do 
it!"  Her  broken  sentences  were  spoken 
from  the  stair  as  she  went  up. 

When  she  came  down  the  trap  was  wait- 
ing.    Her  father  went  out  with  her,  put  her 
269 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

into  the  vehicle  and  tucked  the  robes  about 
her.  The  world  was  flooded  with  sunshine, 
the  grass  down  in  the  folds  of  the  hills  was 
vividly  green,  the  tree-tops,  gray  and  brown, 
were  tossing  softly ;  the  professor  thrust  a 
bill  in  his  daughter's  hand.  "  Tell  the  doc- 
tor to  get  whatever  he  thinks  Susan  might 
need." 

Frances  had  one  last  word.  "  Don't  tele- 
graph yet !  "  she  begged. 

It  seemed  a  senseless  thing,  but  he  did  as 
she  pleaded.  The  afternoon  was  full  of  duties 
for  him.  He  went  through  them  mechani- 
cally and  before  he  was  done  had  a  sharp 
message  from  the  doctor,  "  Come  out  at 
once ! " 

Frances  had  driven  around  for  the  doctor, 
told  him  briefly  what  she  feared  for  Susan, 
gave  her  father's  message,  and  then,  white 
and  dumb,  had  no  other  word  to  say  through 
their  drive.  The  doctor,  glad  of  an  hour's 
quiet,  lounged  in  his  seat,  as  they  made  what 
speed  they  could  through  heavy  mud  and 
mire  and  great  pools  of  water;  the  dull 
sodden  fields  and  green  patches  of  winter 
270 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

wheat  and  far-off  hazy  mountains  claimed 
scarce  a  glance,  but  once  or  twice  he  looked 
curiously  at  the  face  of  the  girl  by  his  side. 
He  had  held  her,  a  new-born  babe,  known 
every  phase  of  her  childhood  and  girlhood, 
and  it  cut  him  to  the  heart  to  see  that 
stricken  look.  He  had  his  own  dread  of  the 
cause  likewise ;  for  the  tragedy  the  professor 
told  was  one  which  had  stirred  the  town. 

Soon  as  they  glimpsed  the  cabin,  they 
saw  Susan's  spare  figure  standing  on  the 
step,  the  door  closed  behind  her,  while  she 
strained  her  anxious  eyes  for  help. 

She  hurried  to  the  trap.  While  the  doc- 
tor fumbled  with  his  medicine  case,  Frances 
sprang  out  on  the  other  side.  She  hastened 
at  once  to  the  door;  she  did  not  even  hear 
Susan's  anxious  "  Honey,  maybe  yuh  'd  bet- 
tah  not  go  in  dyar! " 

She  pushed  it  open.  There  sat  Bill  by 
the  fire.  There,  on  Susan's  bed  — 

Frances  gave  a  great  cry  and  sank  on  her 
knees  beside  it. 

"  Great  God ! "  cried  the  doctor  as  he  pushed 
her  roughly  aside,  for  there,  on  Susan's  bed, 
271 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

with  closed  eyes  and  no  signs  of  life  showing 
in  his  face,  lay  Edward  Montague.  The 
doctor  ran  his  hand  under  the  covers  over 
the  man's  heart. 

"  He  's  libin' ! "  declared  Susan,  "  he 's  been 
moanin'  once  or  twice ! " 

"  He 's  in  a  swoon.  Bring  me  my  medi- 
cine case  !  Give  me  a  spoon !  Chafe  his  hands 
and  wrists ! "  The  doctor  worked  anx- 
iously ;  there  was  a  faint  flicker  in  the  pulse, 
a  slow  beating  of  the  heart.  "  Come  away  !  " 
he  commanded  as  they  went  over  to  the  win- 
dow. "  Where  did  you  find  him  ? "  asked 
the  doctor. 

"  Down  dyar ! "  Susan  pointed  down  the 
valley  with  shaking  fingers,  "ebery  day  o'  my 
life  Ise  used  to  comin'  out  an'  lookin'  up  an' 
down  an'  ober  to  the  hills,  an'  thinkin'  'bout 
de  Bible  an'  de  hills  dat  gib  strength.  Dis 
mornin'  — "  Frances  made  an  impatient 
movement,  but  the  doctor  quieted  her.  He 
knew  Susan  must  tell  her  story  her  own  way. 

"  It  sho'  was  a  sight !  Dis  mornin'  de 
meader  was  jes'  as  wet,  an  'de  grass  was  all 
flat  where  de  watah  done  run  off  it,  an'  de 
272 


A    GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

crows  was  flyin'  an'  callin'  up  in  de  sky.  I 
kep'  goin'  to  de  do'  an'  lookin'  an'  lookin',  an' 
by  an'  by  I  sees  sumpin'  down  by  dat  little 
fringe  o'  trees,  an'  I  knows,  jes'  lak  dat,  dat  't 
was  a  man.  I  says  to  Bill  —  he  's  been  hob- 
blin'  roun'  right  smart  lately  — '  Bill,  yuh 
come  'long,  dyar  's  a  man  down  dyar.'  An* 
when  we  got  dyar  we  seed  't  was  Marse  Ed- 
ward, an'  dat 's  all." 

"  How  did  you  get  him  here  ? " 

"  Oh,  we  got  him  up,  eben  if  he  is  right 
sizable."  Susan  had  little  to  say  of  her  own 
feat,  and  of  Bill's. 

"  I  pulls  off  his  clothes  and  gets  him  into 
bed  wid  a  hot  brick  to  his  feet,  an*  den  I 
runs  out  to  de  road  an'  de  firs'  pusson  I  sees 
I  sends  to  Mr.  Frazier's." 

The  doctor  had  been  holding  the  whis- 
pered talk  near  the  little  window.  He  had 
done  all  he  could,  and  while  he  waited  he 
made  Susan  tell  the  tale,  for  the  sake  of  the 
girl  who  leaned  against  the  cabin  side,  that 
stricken  look  yet  in  her  face. 

"Why  did  you  send  for  her?"  he  asked 
sternly. 

i«  273 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  La  I  Who  I  gwine  git  to  help  me  if  't  ain't 
Miss  Frances  ?  " 

"  Why  did  n't  you  send  for  her  father  ?  " 

"  Ain't  I  been  libin*  in  his  house  all  dese 
years,"  whispered  Susan  back  indignantly, 
"  an*  don't  I  know  he  's  nebber  to  be  'sturbed 
when  he  's  at  his  work.  He 's  down  at  de 
hall  now!" 

The  doctor  went  back  to  the  bedside. 
He  motioned  Susan  and  bent  to  his  work 
again. 

By  and  by  the  inert  figure  stirred ;  there 
was  a  faint  flush  of  color  in  the  white  face ; 
the  doctor  put  a  spoon  to  his  lips,  again 
and  again.  The  young  man  opened  his 
eyes,  looked  at  him  without  a  glimpse  of 
recognition,  turned  a  little  on  his  side,  and 
fell  asleep. 

"He's  dry — quite?"  the  doctor  whis- 
pered to  Susan. 

"  I  stripped  off  ebery  rag  he  had.  He 's 
got  on  Bill's  shut  now." 

A  smile  twitched  the  doctor's  mouth,  but 
he  went  on  gravely  enough.  "  Is  the  brick 
hot?" 

374 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

"  'T  is     de    third    one    I    done    put    in 
dyar!" 

"  Keep  the  fire  going  all  you  can  I "  to 
Bill.  Bill  before  the  fire  piled  log  after  log 
with  utmost  quiet.  The  doctor  pushed  a 
flag  chair  noiselessly  towards  Frances; 
Susan,  used  to  long  waiting,  drooped  by  the 
footboard ;  the  doctor  walked  to  and  fro 
with  noiseless  footsteps  from  bed  to  window. 
Out  there,  the  narrow  valley  was  flooded 
with  sunshine,  the  stream  running  full  and 
red  with  the  clay  of  the  fields  it  had  ravaged  ; 
in  here  lay  the  victim  of  the  flood.  He 
took  out  his  watch,  slipped  it  back  again, 
looked  long  out  of  the  little  window  towards 
the  distant  purple  peaks,  went  back  to  the 
bedside,  looked,  leaned  over,  —  turned,  his 
face  beaming. 

"Perspiration!"  he  whispered,  as  he 
touched  the  edges  of  the  young  man's 
forehead. 

"  You  mean  —  "  gasped  Frances. 

"He's   all   right,  for  the  present,   if   he 
does  n't  have  pneumonia.     My  dear  child  1 " 
for  Frances  went  white  to  the  lips. 
275 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  No  !  "  she  steadied  herself,  "  I  'm  not 
going  to  faint !  Thank  God !  " 

The  doctor  laid  his  hand  on  her  shoulder 
gently,  "  I  shall  send  for  your  father  at  once, 
and  when  he  comes  you  must  go." 

"Why  should  I?"  she  flashed.  "He 
needs  —  " 

"  Nothing  that  we  cannot  do !  "  And  he 
listened  to  no  argument.  He  scarcely 
allowed  the  professor  to  stay  long  enough 
to  let  slip  from  his  lips  the  joy  that  brimmed 
his  heart,  but  with  significant  look  at  his 
daughter  sent  them  homewards  at  once. 

It  was  dusk  then,  and  they  went  quietly 
both  with  joy  in  their  hearts,  and  both  with 
memory,  likewise.  The  father,  all  the  deep 
waters  of  his  life  stirred  by  the  despair  and 
the  gratitude  held  so  closely  together,  saw, 
as  in  a  vision,  the  love  of  his  life  who  had 
driven  along  this  way  so  often  by  his  side, 
and  sent  his  whole  heart  out  to  the  memory 
of  her.  His  daughter  saw  first  a  pleading, 
earnest  face,  and  then  the  white  unconscious 
one  ;  listened  to  earnest  words,  that  pleaded 
more  strongly  now  the  speaker's  lips  were 
276 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

closed,  remembered  all  the  thoughtfulness 
and  kindliness  in  which  she  had  read  only 
friendliness,  and  in  which  she  read  now 
deep,  strong  love,  a  love  that  placed  her  own 
happiness  above  all  else.  To  each  their 
vision,  sweet  and  bitter,  bitter  and  sweet. 


a/7 


XXII 

MONTAGUE   escaped  the   dreaded 
pneumonia.     He  rallied,  at  first  it 
seemed  rapidly.     He  begged  a  letter 
should  be  written  home  making  light  of  all 
exaggerated  rumors,  and  that  he  should  be 
moved   to   his  own  home;  but  heavy  cold 
and  wrenched  nerves  and  bitter  memories 
were  poor  aids  to  health  in  his  big  empty 
house,  where  Susan  stood   guard  over  him 
and  Bill  kept  watch  in  the  kitchen. 

The  doctor  went  to  see  him  and  the  pro- 
fessor. Two  weeks  went  by,  and  the  doctor 
was  first  surprised  and  then  discouraged. 
Driving  in  from  one  of  his  visits  he  saw  the 
professor  on  the  sidewalk.  He  drew  rein. 

"  How  is  Edward  ? "  asked  the  professor 
quickly. 

The  doctor  shifted  the  reins  he  held  care- 
lessly. "So,  so,"  he  said  lightly,  "not  so 
well  as  I  thought  he  would  be  by  this  time; 
it 's  dull  out  there." 

278 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

The  professor  was  listening,  an  anxious 
furrow  down  his  forehead  "  I  will  take  him 
out  some  magazines." 

"Hm!" 

u  And  —  what  do  you  think  he  needs  ?  " 

"  Company,  I  guess.  Helen  "  —  Mrs.  Ran- 
dall —  "  wants  to  go  out.  Every  time  I  go 
I  have  so  many  other  visits  to  make  I  can- 
not manage  it." 

"I'll  take  her!"  eagerly  interrupted  the 
professor. 

"  Suppose  you  do.  Beautiful  weather,"  the 
doctor  wandered  on  aimlessly;  "feels  like 
spring." 

The  professor  listened  impatiently;  he 
was  hurried,  and  had  no  time  for  weather 
comments. 

"  There 's  a  honeysuckle  in  bloom  out 
there ! "  he  pulled  a  great  sprig  of  it  care- 
lessly out  of  his  button-hole,  "it's  sweet 
smell  it!"  The  professor  sniffed  at  it  dis- 
dainfully and  handed  it  back.  He  felt  it  a 
travesty  that  two  of  the  busiest  men  in  the 
neighborhood  should  be  standing  on  the 
ousiest  street  of  the  town,  its  life  surging 
279 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

about  them,  talking  of  spring  weather  and 
honeysuckle. 

"  Give  it  to  Frances ! "  and  then,  as  if  in 
afterthought,  "  take  her  out  too !  "  He  had 
made  some  curious  prescriptions  in  his  prac- 
tice ;  "  It  will  cheer  him  up ! "  And  he  was 
off  at  once,  driving  rapidly  down  the  street, 
chuckling  to  himself  as  he  looked  back  at 
the  professor  still  standing  there,  honey- 
suckle in  hand. 

Take  the  doctor's  wife  out,  and  Frances? 
Why  not  ?  The  doctor's  wife  was  anxiously 
willing ;  the  professor  was  half  angered  that 
Frances  was  not;  only  he  gave  scant  heed 
to  her  indecision.  "  We  are  going  this  after- 
noon," he  said ;  "  if  you  have  anything  you 
think  he  would  like  to  eat,  fix  it  up  for  him," 
and  Frances  was  forced  to  hide  her  reluc- 
tance in  active  preparation. 

The  professor  was  worried,  too,  to  notice, 
once  they  were  there  —  and  the  joy  of  their 
host  was  pathetic  to  see  in  his  white,  worn 
face  —  how  few  words  Frances  had  to  say  of 
their  thankfulness  at  his  recovery.  He  had 
been  looking  after  the  affairs  of  the  farm  on 
280 


A    GIRL   OF    VIRGINIA 

each  visit  he  made.  When  he  got  up  to  go 
out  to  a  distant  field  Susan  saw  him.  She 
had  been  talking  to  Mrs.  Randall,  who  was 
busied  in  the  storeroom  putting  away  the 
custards  and  jellies  she  had  brought. 

"  Marse  Robert,"  Susan  called,  soon  as  she 
had  nearly  caught  up  with  his  rapid  steps 
half  way  across  the  orchard.  "  Marse  Robert, 
Ise  comin'  back  soon  as  Marse  Edward  is 
well.  He  is  well  'nuff  now ! "  she  sniffed, 
remembering  some  of  his  crossness. 

The  professor  stood  looking  down  on  the 
ground.  "  Susan,"  he  said,  when  she  had 
finished,  "  I  '11  come  for  you  when  you  are 
ready.  As  long  as  I  have  a  home,  there's 
a  place  for  you ;  but  I  tell  you  now,  /  will 
not  have  Bill  hanging  around ! " 

"  Bill !  "  the  old  woman's  big  black  eyes 
flashed.  "  He  's  gwine  git  married." 

41  In  the  name  of  sense  who  will  have 
him  ? " 

"She!"  Susan  pointed  with  dramatic 
forefinger  to  the  narrow  high  window  of  the 
basement  kitchen. 

"She—    Why  — " 
281 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

0  She  's  ten  years  older  dan  he  is  if  she 's 
a  day,  but  Bill  say  she  can  cook  to  beat  de 
ban' !  "  The  slang  slipped  glibly  from  the 
old  woman's  tongue. 

"  What 's  he  going  to  do  ?  "  asked  the  pro- 
fessor, after  a  moment's  astonished  silence. 

"  First,  he  'lowed  as  how  he  wanted  me  to 
give  him  de  cabin,  but,  Marse  Robert,  I  sut- 
tenly  did  n't  want  to,  an'  while  I  was  pro- 
jictin'  roun'  in  my  min'  'bout  it,  Marse 
Edward  he  want  to  know  if  Bill  won't  come 
hyar  to  work.  His  rhumatiz  is  most  gone. 
An'  den  when  he  heard  dey  wanted  to  git 
married,  he  jis'  laff  an'  say  't  will  suit  him  jis' 
as  well ;  dey  can  lib  in  de  out-do'  kitchen. 

"  Marse  Edward  seemed  mightily  tickled," 
went  on  the  old  woman,  slyly.  "  Seem 
lak  he  got  some  notions  o'  his  own." 

The  blow  told.  The  professor  flushed, 
turned  as  if  to  go  back,  but  turned  fieldward 
again.  Doubtless  Mrs.  Randall  would  be 
there  even  now.  "  Go  on,  Susan,  into  the 
house,"  he  commanded. 

Susan  went  into  the  kitchen.  If  that 
young  man  up  there  wanted  to  say  anything 
282 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

and  ease  his  mind,  she  swore  she  would  give 
him  a  chance;  maybe  he  would  be  more 
peaceable  if  she  did.  She  sat  down  by  the 
kitchen  fire  quite  unmindful  of  the  fact  she 
was  spoiling  the  love-making  Bill  was 
clumsily  striving  at,  while  he  smelled  the 
chicken  steaming  and  the  hot  rolls  baking 
for  the  early  supper,  which  Montague  had 
ordered  soon  as  he  had  caught  sight  of  his 
guests. 

When  she  heard  Mrs.  Randall's  slow  foot- 
step up  the  stair  and  hurried  up  the  other 
way,  she  found  her  charm  had  worked ;  her 
patient  was  peaceable  as  a  lamb. 

On  Frances'  face  was  a  look  it  wanned 
the  heart  of  the  old  woman  to  see,  —  the 
flushed,  faint  flickerings  of  the  beginnings 
of  a  great  happiness. 


283 


XXIII 

LAWSON'S  hard  study  was  bringing 
its  own  reward.  There  were  high 
opinions  forming  of  him  on  quad- 
rangle and  in  hall.  But  he  gave  no  heed 
to  them.  He  was  holding  to  a  grim  de- 
termination, and  the  interest  he  felt  grow- 
ing stronger  and  stronger  in  his  work  was 
an  incentive  he  had  not  expected.  It  was 
not  often  his  mind  went  back  to  idle  memo- 
ries, or  forward  to  visionary  hopes ;  he  lived 
as  he  swore  he  would  do  when  he  came 
back  to  the  University,  and  he  kept  to  his 
purpose  with  the  self-will  he  had  used  in 
every  other  pursuit.  As  the  days  lengthened 
and  the  grass  greened  on  the  quadrangle 
and  the  maple  blossoms  drifted  on  the  thick 
sward,  the  contest  with  himself  grew  harder. 
He  had  followed  the  bent  of  his  humor 
always,  and,  with  spring- tide  abroad,  the  old 
desire  for  wandering  came  upon  him.  He 
had  tramped,  driven,  roamed,  lived  out-of- 
284 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

doors;  had  known  a  camp  life  in  the 
Rockies,  and  the  long  lazy  days  by  the 
ocean's  swell  at  Santa  Barbara,  and  the  lazy 
loungings  in  foreign  cities.  Now  when  soft 
winds  brought  through  his  opened  window  a 
breath  of  fresh  fields  and  opening  leaf-buds, 
and  the  languorous  odor  of  violets  and  hya- 
cinths, and  the  hum  of  bees  and  the  songs 
of  mocking-birds,  his  room,  with  its  worn 
floor  and  ashy  hearth  and  dusty  hangings, 
seemed  stifling.  The  outside  world  called 
him. 

He  pushed  his  books  from  him,  and  his 
thoughts  ran  idly  into  a  channel  forbidden. 
He  got  to  his  feet  and  picked  up  his  cap. 
He  would  have  a  long  tramp  up  the  sides  of 
Mount  Jefferson.  As  he  opened  the  door 
the  postman,  going  his  afternoon  rounds, 
called  to  him,  "  Mail  for  you,"  and  held  up  a 
bunch  of  cards  and  papers  and  a  letter. 

Lawson  glanced  at  them,  stepped  back  into 
his  room  and  closed  the  door.  The  letter 
was  from  his  father,  in  his  own  handwriting. 
He  wrote  seldom.  There  was  little  he  would 
say  to  his  son  through  his  secretary;  and 
285 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

what  he  said  in  his  own  style  was  ill-spelt, 
and  his  son  was  college-bred. 

His  son  tore  the  letter  open,  devoured  it 
with  quick  eyes.  "  My  God !  My  God  !  "  he 
half  sobbed,  as  he  leaned  against  the  mantel, 
his  face  hidden  on  his  arms.  But  it  was  not 
anguish  which  drew  the  cry,  nor  joy;  for 
sorrow  he  would  have  set  his  lips  and  gone 
his  way;  and  joy  he  dared  not  yet  name 
this  feeling  which  surged  in  his  heart.  He 
was  suffocating.  He  opened  his  door,  looked 
quickly  up  and  down  —  he  would  see  no 
one  —  almost  ran  down  to  the  Serpentine 
walk  and  so  out  beyond  West  Range  to  the 
road,  mountain  ward.  Now  he  knew  that  the 
sun  shone,  that  flowers  were  in  bloom  and 
birds  a-wing,  that  winds  were  soft  and  skies 
were  blue. 

He  pushed  his  cap  back  from  his  forehead 
so  that  the  wind  might  blow  across  it,  and 
he  felt  as  if  bands  of  torture  and  bitterness 
were  melting  at  its  touch. 

Overhead,  the  buzzards  floated  in  lazy 
luxury  of  flying,  the  crows  called  loudly ; 
beyond  the  football  grounds  the  farmer  was 
286 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

planting  the  red,  fresh-ploughed  field  in  corn ; 
the  golf  links  were  green  with  new  growth. 
He  leaned  his  arms  on  the  fence  and  watched 
some  distant  players,  the  opening  buds  of  the 
wayside  bushes  making  a  screen  about  him. 
Then  his  gaze  strayed  to  the  oaks  beyond, 
their  red  buds  tossing  softly.  Farther  on, 
the  chestnuts  showed  pale  leaves  no  bigger 
than  a  squirrel's  ear,  and  up  the  mountain- 
side the  forest  ran  in  delicate  waves  of  color, 
green  upon  green,  and  gray  and  red. 

As  he  walked  and  breathed  the  pure  air  in 
an  ecstasy  of  appreciation,  he  saw  coming 
down  the  path  under  the  red-tinted  oaks  one 
who  might  have  been  the  spring  expressed  in 
physical  form.  Frances,  her  hands  filled 
with  dainty  blossomings  and  leaf-buds,  was 
walking  blithely  toward  him,  her  face  bright 
as  the  sky,  and  the  peace  that  brooded  upon 
it  sweet  as  the  sunshine  on  mountain  and 
field.  He  could  not  have  moved  if  he  would, 
and  he  would  not  if  he  could.  Hidden  by 
the  tangle  of  cedar  and  vine  and  bramble,  in 
the  fence  corner,  he  could  watch  her  through 
half  closed  eyes  whose  glance  was  a  caress. 
287 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

Turning  his  elbow  on  the  old  chestnut  rail 
fence  he  watched  her,  scarcely  breathing  till 
she  was  abreast  of  him.  Then  he  spoke,  but 
only  her  name. 

"  Miss  Holloway ! 

"I  startled  you!  You  must  pardon  me: 
you  see  I  have  been  watching  the  players." 
He  motioned  towards  the  golf  links.  "  Will 
you  not  wait  a  while,"  he  begged ;  "  I  was 
thinking  of  you  the  moment  I  saw  you.  It 
was  a  dream  come  true,"  he  added  softly, 
"  Thank  God  our  dreams  do  come  true,  some- 
times ! 

"  There  is  something  I  must  tell  you,"  he 
said,  after  a  moment's  silence,  while  he  strove 
to  find  speech  for  the  thoughts  he  could  not 
frame  to  words,  but  which  were  choking  him 
for  utterance.  "  You  will  wait  ?  "  for  Frances 
had  been  too  astonished  to  say  anything 
beyond  her  murmured  greeting,  and  stood 
startled,  as  if  for  instant  flight,  the  red  and 
white  coming  and  going  on  her  clear  cheek. 

"  Last  winter  when  I  came  to  you,"  he 
blundered,  and  then  the  anger  in  her  face 
gave  him  sudden  cool  courage,  "  I  was  not 
288 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

free  to  do  so  — so  you  thought,  I  thought 
otherwise ;  you  will  do  me  the  honor  to  be- 
lieve it,"  coldly;  "for  fear  of  some  misadven- 
ture I  told  you  —  " 

"  I  have  not  forgotten,"  said  Frances  gently, 
as  if  to  save  him  the  pain  of  putting  the 
thought  into  speech. 

"  Now,  now  —  I  have  not  said  it  yet, 
scarcely  told  it  myself!  —  do  not  let  me 
frighten  you  —  /  am  free  I " 

The  delicate  flowers  slipped  from  Frances' 
nerveless  hands  down  to  the  ground  and  lay 
there  in  the  path  between  them. 

"  Frances,  I  am  free.  Do  you  know  what  it 
means?  That  woman  who  bore  my  name 
is  dead ; "  if  he  never  spoke  her  name  in 
reverence  before  he  did  so  now,  "  she  is  dead. 
Did  you  think  I  went  away  for  pleasure, 
Christmas  ? "  he  hurried  on,  almost  breath- 
lessly. "  She  wrote  to  me.  I  had  not  heard 
from  her  for  five  years.  My  lawyer  was  told 
never  to  mention  her  name  to  me.  But  she 
wrote  that  very  day,  no,  the  next,"  —  he  put 
his  hand  to  his  head  confusedly,  he  could  not 
tell  her  all  the  pain,  the  bitterness,  he  had 
19  389 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

felt,  —  "  she  wrote  begging  me  to  come.  She 
was  dying,  she  said.  I  went;  I  telegraphed 
my  father  to  meet  me  there.  She  saw  us 
both ;  she  had  not  been  so  bad,  perhaps,  as 
we  thought;  it  was  the  devil  of  show  and 
selfishness  and  restlessness  which  possessed 
her,  and  I  must  have  seemed  to  her  at  the 
first,  long  ago,  to  be  a  very  fool,  to  be 
wheedled,  to  be  —  I  don't  think  she  ever 
dreamed  it  was  in  me  to  leave  her.  She  had 
taken  her  divorce  in  half-angry,  half-amused 
carelessness;  so  long  as  she  got  what  she 
wanted,  what  did  it  matter,  and  that  was 
wealth  !  I  must  tell  you  this,  Frances,  once 
for  all,  then  it  shall  be  dead  between  us,  as 
she  is.  The  doctor  said  she  would  live  a 
week.  I  came  back,  knowing  this.  I  saw 
you!  You  will  never  know  how  I  was 
tempted,  but  there  was  a  vileness  I  could 
not  sink  to !  I  could  not  build  dreams 
of  happiness  upon  the  shortness  of  her 
life! 

"  If  I  had  not  studied  until  there  was  no 
thought  day  by  day,  week  by  week  —  work  1 
They  think  I  love   it.     God !  I  have  been 
290 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

buried,  dead,  have  been  buried,  and  now  am 
alive ! " 

He  put  his  hand  on  hers,  clenched  before 
her.  "You  are  thinking  how  unlike  I  am 
to  anything  you  ever  dreamed  of  me.  I  am ! 
I  do  not  know  myself !  Think  if  you  can  — 
five  years  of  shame,  and  now  freedom  and 
the  world  —  and  you  !  You  are  not  shocked, 
Frances,  that  I  am  glad?" 

There  was  no  answer,  except  the  breath  of 
the  wind  over  the  fields,  and  the  rustling  in 
the  wayside  bushes  about  them. 

"  Is  it  a  dreadful  thing  to  you  that  I 
should  be  glad  ? "  he  pleaded 

"No!  Oh  no!"  Her  trembling  lips 
scarcely  framed  the  words. 

"  Frances !  Look  at  me ! "  he  put  his 
hand  on  her  shoulder  and  felt  the  convulsive 
sob  that  shook  her.  "  Sweetheart,  my  dar- 
ling," he  began,  with  broken  words  of  love. 

"  No,  no,"  cried  the  girl  wildly,  "you  must 
not  speak  such  words  to  me!  Wait!  wait 
a  moment." 

By  and  by  she  lifted  her  head,  looked  long 
over  the  fields  which  lay,  the  shimmer  of 
391 


A   GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

heat  pulsing  over  their  greenness,  and  then 
she  turned,  courage  and  decision  in  her  dark 
eyes,  though  the  tears  still  clung  to  her  long 
lashes. 

"  You  have  shown  me  your  heart,  and  I  — 
I  am  not  the  one  to  look  into  its  secrets. 
It  's  spring-tide  there,"  she  hastened  on  with 
poetic  simile  —  did  she  not  keep  to  some  such 
fashion  she  could  not  speak  —  "and  there 
are  blue  skies,  and  bird  songs  and  flowers  —  " 

11  The  rose  of  love,"  said  Lawson  softly. 

Frances  drew  her  breath  sobbingly,  "  'T  is 
not  the  time  of  roses,"  she  said.  "  It  is 
youth,  and  life,  and  ambition  — " 

"And  love!" 

"No!" 

"  And  love,  and  you  !  " 

"  Not  me  !  I  am  as  much  out  of  your  life 
as  she  who  is  dead." 

"  You  are  not ;  you  are  here ;  you  are  mine, 
Frances  ! "  with  his  old  masterful  manner. 

"  I  am  not !  " 

"  No  one  shall  claim  you !  " 

"  Because,"  she  said  gently,  "  I  am  already 
claimed ! " 

392 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"It  is  impossible!"  he  cried,  never  will- 
ing to  own  any  other  victor  where  he 
fought. 

"Why?" 

"  I  will  not  believe  it ! " 

11  You  must !  It  is  true ! "  she  put  out  a 
shielding  hand,  "and  I  think,  I  know,  it  is 
best!  I  did  not  know  it  then,  I  do  not 
know  how  I  know  it  now,  but  sorrow  teaches 
much." 

"  Sorrow  and  you,  Frances !  But  you  shall 
never  know  it  again."  He  owned  no  defeat ; 
it  was  his  to  make  her  happy. 

"  Did  you  think  you  alone  had  suffered  ?  " 
she  asked,  a  little  bitterly.  M  I  learned  many 
things  in  those  long  days.  I  learned  the 
meaning  of  much  that  had  been  but  empty 
words.  I  learned,"  she  went  on  lower,  so 
low  he  could  scarcely  catch  the  words, 
"  much  of  myself.  We  would  not  be  happy, 
you  and  I  together.  No!  I  listened  to 
you.  Listen  now  !  It  must  be  truth !  "  her 
sentences  were  broken.  "  I  am  selfish ;  it 
may  be  the  fault  of  one  who  has  known  so 
little  divided  affection." 
393 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

*  Divided !  You  know  I  should  —  "  began 
Lawson  passionately. 

"And  yours  will  always  be  so,  on  the 
surface;  in  your  heart  you  may  be  true. 
There  is  many  a  woman  might  trust  you 
so,  always ;  but  I  must  see  that  I  have  all  a 
man's  heart  or  none.  I  told  you  my  weak- 
ness once  before."  Even  as  she  spoke, 
simply  baring  truths  she  had  learned,  as  she 
said,  from  sorrow,  she  was  wonder-struck 
that  she  could  find  words  for  them,  deep  as 
she  had  hidden  them  always  in  her  heart. 

"  I  remember ! "  said  Lawson,  as  he  bared 
his  head. 

"  I  would  never  have  all  of  yours  —  ah ! 
I  know !  Never !  " 

"  I  would  always  love  you,  always !  Can 
you  not  see,"  indignantly,  "  how  a  man  can 
adore  one  woman  and  yet  not  be  blind  to  all 
others  ?  " 

"  No ! "  with  hot  energy,  "  I  would  not 
share  my  love  with  every  pretty  face  and 
every  new  ambition." 

Lawson  was  too  angry  at  the  moment  for 
speech,  but  Frances  did  not  heed  it 
294 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  No  1  By  and  by  when  your  life  would  be 
full  and  happy,  and  you  would  hail  each  new 
phase  with  eagerness,  I,  if  I  were  by  your 
side,  would  be  growing  colder  and  less  at- 
tractive in  my  iciness,  and  we  should  be  — 
Oh  no!"  with  a  dramatic  gesture,  "it  is 
better  so !  " 

Again  there  was  a  dreamy  silence,  the  winds 
sighing  softly  over  the  fields  and  singing  in 
the  trees. 

"  You  have  all  your  life  before  you  once 
more,"  said  Frances,  after  many  moments, 
"youth  and  wealth  and  freedom  1 " 

"  But  you  ?  "  cried  the  young  man. 

"II"  she  smiled  softly,  " think  of  me  as 
the  unattainable,  and  so,"  and  she  showed 
how  keen  her  knowledge  of  the  man  was,  as 
she  said  it,  and  how  true  her  words  of  knowl- 
edge gained  through  sorrow, "  and  so  you  will 
never  forget !  Good-by!  " 

"  That  other  man,"  he  insisted,  without  a 
notice  of  the  finality  of  her  speech,  "  he  loves 
you  as  you  demand  ? " 

The  rose-red  flush  of  her  face  answered 
him. 

295 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

"  And  you  love  him  ? "  he  asked  brutally, 
while  he  watched  her  breathlessly,  watched 
and  saw,  at  the  sudden  question  and  the 
thought  it  brought,  the  divine  light  stealing 
into  her  eyes ;  he  had  seen  it  before,  and  for 
him  ! 

He  strode  close  to  her,  passionate  words 
of  pleading  on  his  lips,  and  he  stepped  on 
the  delicate  blossoms  scattered  at  her  feet. 

She  looked  down  at  them,  and  his  glance 
followed  hers  and  then  went  back  to  her 
face ;  he  read  her  thoughts.  So  he  had 
crushed  with  blundering  footsteps  other  blos- 
soms more  delicate. 

He  was  silent.  He  stood  aside  to  let  her 
pass,  and  pass  out  of  his  life. 

But  he,  wrestling  with  the  passionate 
thoughts  surging  through  him,  strode  up  the 
mountain-side  farther  and  deeper  into  the 
solemn  woods,  away  from  any  man's  track, 
alone,  for  his  fight.  He  threw  himself  down 
on  the  carpet  of  last  year's  leaves,  far  up  on 
the  crest,  and  lived  again  her  words.  He 
had  lost,  and  lost  what  he  had  come  most 
to  desire ;  but  back  of  it,  like  a  strong  sweet 
296 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

song  vibrating  through  him  as  the  evening 
wind  did  in  the  tree- tops,  were  words  she  had 
used  and  his  father  had  written,  and  his  heart 
now  repeated.  They  set  themselves  to  one 
chorus  "  Free,  free,  free !  "  He  could  feel  no 
bitterness,  only  a  mighty  attunement  to  the 
vital  influences  of  the  spring- tide  world  and 
a  virile  pulsing  of  might  and  ambition.  He 
took  out  his  father's  letter  and  read  it  again. 
There  were  sentences  in  it  he  could  never 
forget. 

"  I  have  blamed  myself  for  much  of  what 
looked  like  your  failures."  "  I  should  not 
have  put  so  much  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a 
boy."  "  Fortune  is  fickle;  I  wished  to  secure 
yours  while  I  had  the  chance,  so  that  you 
might  never  know  the  poverty  I  had  suffered." 

He  thought  of  the  stalwart  old  man  and 
how  his  heart  must  have  been  wrung  before 
he  could  write  with  such  humility. 

"  I  sent  you  on  your  way  —  to  ruin,  I  feared, 
for  many  a  day."  "  When  at  last  you  pulled 
up  and  determined  to  take  up  your  old 
studies  far  from  every  memory,  I  hoped 
much  ;  now  I  hope  everything." 
297 


A    GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

"  When  you  have  taken  your  degree,  I 
need  you."  "  I  have  claims  enough  to  keep 
you  busy."  "  I  want  somebody  with  brains ; 
1  have  thought  you  had  them,  once  or  twice." 
"  And  remember  you  are  your  mother's  only 
son." 

Please  God,  he  would  remember! 


298 


XXIV 

THE  professor  had  the  faults  of  an 
absent-minded  man,  and  the  pecu- 
liarities of  a  reticent  one!  Once 
his  confidence  was  gained,  there  was  little 
he  withheld,  and  he  never  quite  remembered 
what  he  had  told  or  not  told,  and  so,  some- 
times, blurted  out  a  secret  unwittingly. 

It  was  with  no  thought  of  mischief  that 
he  said  to  Montague,  "  The  fellow's  wife  is 
dead ! " 

"  Whose  ? "  asked  that  young  man  in 
astonishment. 

"Why,  Lawson's!" 

"  Lawson's  !  "  in  incredulous  horror;  M  he 
was  not  married  ?  " 

"  Divorced,  you  know !  " 

Montague  stopped  short,  the  hazy,  misty, 
spring-tide  world  reeled  about  him. 

14  He  met  me  on  the  quadrangle  this  morn- 
ing and  told  me."  The  professor  did  not 
299 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

add  that  his  haughty  manner  of  doing  so 
had  been  a  most  unpleasant  and  rankling 
memory  all  the  day ;  nor  did  he  know 
that  his  uneasiness  was  the  cause  of  his 
confidence. 

"  Said  that,  as  I  had  known  the  other,  he 
wished  me  to  know  this ;  as  if  it  mattered," 
testily. 

"  How  long  have  you  known  ?  " 

"  Since  —  since  Christmas."  The  professor 
was  hot  and  cold,  and  saw  with  lightning 
glance  his  blunder. 

But  Montague's  manner  assured  him 
quickly.  His  instant  return  to  the  subject 
in  hand,  his  quick  and  voluble  speaking  on 
the  affairs  they  had  come  out  to  discuss, 
blinded  him.  He  had  been  a  fool,  he  told 
himself,  but  it  made  no  difference.  It  did. 

They  had  been  sauntering  about  the  farm 
and  out  to  the  edge  of  the  corn-field.  Bill 
at  the  farther  end  was  replanting.  The 
crows  overhead  called  raucously,  the  moun- 
tain at  their  side  ran  sheer  to  the  sky-line 
with  its  waves  of  color,  gray,  green,  and 
vivid  green.  The  valley  far  below  shim- 
300 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

mered  in  the  heat,  and  the  far-off  mountains 
beyond  it  lifted  slumberous  peaks  into  the 
veiling  blue  haze.  Montague  had  felt  all 
its  beauty  to  the  full;  with  his  soft  hat 
pulled  over  his  eyes,  and  his  hands  thrust  in 
his  pockets,  he  had  been  loitering  happily 
about  showing  the  professor  his  spring 
work. 

It  had  been  a  season  of  unnamable  hap- 
piness to  him;  joy  after  joy  undreamed, 
because  it  was  unknown,  had  blossomed  in 
his  heart,  like  the  sweet  spring  flowers  in 
the  circle  of  the  flower-plot,  unseen,  un- 
thought-of,  until  they  lifted  their  heads  into 
the  sunny  atmosphere,  and  all  the  world 
was  more  beautiful  for  their  coming ;  hopes 
and  plans  were  unfolding  about  his  life  like 
the  leaves  on  the  old  oaks,  slowly,  sturdily, 
of  beautiful  growth,  and  steady  persistence ; 
the  sunny  atmosphere  of  love  enwrapped 
him  and  brought  into  his  life  —  restrained 
and  chary  of  giving  its  best  gifts,  though 
steadfast,  true,  and  deep  —  thoughts  beautiful 
as  the  butterflies  unfolding  their  wings,  and 
sweet  as  the  apple-blossoms  flushing  the 
301 


A   GIRL    OF    VIRGINIA 

orchard  behind  the  great  house,  which  was 
no  longer  empty  and  lonely,  but  was  filled 
with  a  visionary  presence. 

Now  its  sunshine  was  blotted  out  at  a 
word.  He  shivered  a  little  as  they  turned 
back.  "  Bring  the  mare  around  to  the 
front !  "  he  called  as  they  passed  the  stable. 
"  I  think  I  will  ride  back  with  you  1  "  he 
added  to  Mr.  Hollo  way. 

He  left  the  professor  to  attend  to  some 
affairs  in  town,  and  when  he  got  out  to  the 
University  he  found  that  Frances  was  lazily 
asleep.  He  sent  to  ask  if  she  would  take 
a  ride,  and  waited  with  no  show  of  im- 
patience until  she  came  running  down  the 
stair,  habited  and  gloved. 

"  A  ride  !  "  she  called.  "  How  delightful ! 
If  I  had  had  Starlight,  I  should  not  have 
been  so  lazy,  but  father  was  out  with  you. 
Has  he  any  new  suggestions  ? " 

"  Not  one !  "  Montague  smiled,  and  in  the 
darkened  room,  Frances  did  not  notice  how 
white  he  was. 

"  We  had  better  hurry  ! "  she  said,  "  or  we 
will  lose  the  sunset." 
302 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

Montague  opened  the  door  as  she  spoke. 
The  shadows  of  the  maples  stretched  long 
across  the  quadrangle,  and  the  corridor  and 
houses  across  the  way  shimmered  in  the  low 
and  golden  sunlight.  The  vine  about  the 
pillar  stretched  brave  new  tendrils  upward, 
and  proudly  waved  its  glossy  leaves. 

Frances,  with  quick  sight  for  each  beauty 
of  the  outside  world  and  ready  speech  of  field 
and  flower  and  wayside  growth  and  bloom, 
kept  her  own  blithe  atmosphere  about  her,  as 
they  rode. 

Far  out  where  the  road  climbed  high, 
she  drew  rein.  They  were  in  time  for 
the  sunset  glory.  It  flooded  the  valley 
below  them  with  mystic  light,  kindled  the 
skies  beyond  the  hill-tops  with  scarlet  fires, 
against  which  the  peaks  loomed  dark,  and 
sent  banners  of  trailing  clouds  far  over  the 
zenith. 

With  hands  clasped  upon  the  pommel,  she 
watched  the  scene  with  delighted  eyes. 
Montague  pulled  his  horse  close  to  hers,  and 
leaned  over,  his  hand  on  Starlight's  mane. 
So,  with  the  golden  light  of  the  sun  stream- 
303 


A   GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

ing  around  her,  he  could  see  every  line  of 
her  face. 

What  he  had  to  say  to  her  he  had  deter- 
mined to  say  shortly,  bravely,  with  no  em- 
broidery of  verbiage. 

"  Frances,"  he  said  as  he  watched  her  in- 
tently, "  I  heard  to-day  that  Lawson's  wife  was 
dead ;  did  you  know  it  ?  " 

Frances  straightened  in  her  saddle  as  if  she 
had  been  struck.  Her  eyes,  which  had  been 
dark  and  dreamy,  flashed.  "Yes,"  she  said 
shortly,  "  I  knew  it ! " 

"  Does  it  make  any  difference  with  you  ? " 

"  How  dare  you  ? " 

"  It 's  not  a  question  of  daring,"  he  said 
simply,  "but  of  truth.  You  remember  last 
winter — "  he  went  on  mercilessly. 

Frances  pulled  up  her  loosened  reins. 
"  We  had  better  turn  here,"  she  said  coldly. 

But  Montague  never  moved  his  hand. 
"'Turn  here'?"  He  spoke  of  the  way  of 
their  love  and  she  read  his  hidden  meaning 
aright.  "  Perhaps,  but  not  now.  You  know, 
I  know  that  you  know,  that  I  value  your 
own  happiness  beyond  my  own.  I  have 
304 


A    GIRL   OF   VIRGINIA 

thought — but  maybe   your  happiness  docs 
not  lie  with  me,  Frances  ?  " 

She  was  silent,  a  curve  on  her  lips  he  had 
never  seen  and  did  not  like  to  see. 

"  Are  you  sure  ? "  he  persisted 

"  No! "  she  flashed,  "  I  am  sure  of  nothing, 
certainly  of  nothing  a  man  will  say  or  do! " 

"  It  is  no  time  for  such  words,"  said  Mon- 
tague ;  "  you  know  I  love  you,  I  could  never 
tell  you  how  much  !  Day  by  day  I  might 
show  you,  prove  to  you — 

"  I  believe,"  he  flushed  a  little  as  he  spoke, 
"  I  could  make  you  happy.  But  I  must  give 
you  this  opportunity ;  if  there  has  been  any 
mistake  you  — you  can  turn  back. 

"  Only  if  you  wish."  He  had  begun  with 
renunciation;  manlike  he  was  ending  with 
pleading.  "We  have  been  so  happy,"  he 
pleaded.  He  saw  the  tremble  of  her  lip,  *  I 
believe,  I  believe  I  could  make  you  happy," 
he  pleaded  the  old  words  again. 

The  reins  hung  loosened  on  Starlight's 
neck,  Montague's  hand  slipped  along  the 
horse's  mane  until  it  rested  on  hers. 

"  Knows  so  little,  knows  so  little  1 "  rang  a 
*>  305 


A    GIRL    OF   VIRGINIA 

voice  in  Frances'  ears.  She  stole  a  glance 
at  him  as  he  waited.  She  knew,  looking 
through  veiled  lids,  the  lithe  figure,  the  strong, 
earnest  face  and  grave,  serious  eyes ;  knew 
his  sunny  nature,  his  strength,  his  clean, 
honest  love  for  her.  She  remembered  the 
agony  of  the  day  she  thought  him  dead ;  she 
remembered  the  joy  of  finding  him  alive; 
she  remembered  the  happiness  of  the  days 
afterward  —  for  they  had  been  happy. 
"  Frances !  "  he  pleaded,  "  I  am  waiting." 
She  straightened  herself  in  her  saddle,  and 
picked  up  the  reins.  There  was  a  demure 
smile  on  her  red  lips,  and  a  flash  of  amuse- 
ment in  the  dark  eyes  the  young  man  could 
not  see  for  the  drooping  lashes. 

"  Suppose  we  take  the  road  ahead  and  ride 
around  the  other  way  home  —  then,"  with  a 
careless  look  along  the  road  behind  her,  "  then 
we  need  not  turn  back." 

THE   END 


306 


The  Nen  Novel  by  the  Author  of  "  Truth  Dexter* 


THE  BREATH  OF 
THE  GODS 


By  SIDNEY  McCALL 

Author  of  "Truth  Dexter" 
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years  to  the  careful  writing  of  a  second  story,  which  it  is 
assuredly  safe  to  call  a  masterpiece. 

The  greatest  value  of  "The  Breath  of  the  Gods"  lies 
perhaps  in  its  unusual  power  as  a  story,  with  a  strong, 
original,  and  unexpected  plot,  closely  knit  and  vividly  un- 
folded, and  replete  with  surprises  and  striking  situations. 

The  setting  of  the  background,  partly  in  Washington 
and  partly  in  Japan,  gives  scope  for  the  author's  brilliant 
pictures  and  sympathetic  interpretations  of  nature. 

There  is,  however,  in  "  The  Breath  of  the  Oods  "  no  sacri- 
ficing of  the  dramatic  story  to  an  attempt  at  exposition ; 
Japan  is  not  an  aim,  but  an  incident. 


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A  Spell-binding  Creation 

Mysterious  Mr.  Sabin 

By  E.  PHILLIPS   OPPENHEIM 

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Deals  with  an  intrigue  of  international  moment — the  fomenting 
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readable  for  the  dramatic  force  with  which  the  story  is  told,  the 
absolute  originality  of  the  underlying  creative  thought,  and  the 
strength  of  all  the  men  and  women  who  fill  the  pages.  —Pittsburg 
Times. 

Not  for  long  has  so  good  a  story  of  the  kind  been  published, 
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quality  of  its  construction  has  not  been  slighted.  —  Chicago 
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By  the  Author  of"  The  Shadow  of  the  Czar" 

THE  WEIRD  PICTURE 

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The  wedding  does  not  take  place,  for  the  bridegroom  is 
murdered.  The  scene  in  which  the  victim  appears  to  his 
brother,  on  the  latter's  arrival  at  Dover,  is  singularly  impressive. 
All  this  is  disclosed  in  the  opening  chapter,  and  paves  the  way 
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as  its  remarkable  plot  is  developed. 


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A  Powerful  American  Novel 

The  Vision  of  Elijah  Berl 

By  FRANK   LEWIS   NASON 

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Englander,  emigrates  to  California,  and  dreams  of  the  time 
when  the  barren  region  in  which  he  has  settled  shall  "  blossom 
as  the  rose."  Engineering  ambitions,  the  formation  of  a  com- 
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A  Story  of  Adventure  y  Intrigue  y  and  Love 

A  PRINCE  OF  LOVERS 

By  SIR   WILLIAM    MAGNAY 

Author  of  "  The  Red  Chancellor,"  etc. 
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In  this   new  novel    by  Sir  William  Magnay,  the  heroine, 
"  Princess  Ruperta,"  a  princess  of  the  blood  royal,  sick  of  th« 
monotony  and  unreality  of  Court,  goes  out  one  night,  incognito, 
with  her  maid.     Danger  unexpectedly  threatens  her,  and  wh« 
she   is   gallantly   rescued    from   this   danger   by  a   young   tad 
handsome  stranger,  it    is  not  unnatural   that  (betrothed   com 
pulsorily  as  she  is  for  State  reasons  to  a  royal  person  whora 
has  never  seen)  love  is  born  in  the  heart  of  the  Princo  ••*<• 
as  in  that  of  her  unknown  rescuer.     Then  follows  a  «em« 
adventures  brilliantly  imagined  and  enthrallingly  told. 

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A  Vwid  Romance  of  South  Africa 


ON  THE  FIRING  LINE 


By  ANNA  CHAPIN  RAY 

and  HAMILTON  BROCK  FULLER 

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Setting  aside  Mr.  Kipling,  no  fiction  of  the  Boer  war 
places  a  more  vivid  South  Africa  before  the  eyes.  —  New 
York  Times. 

The  love-story  rings  true.  —  Christian  Register,  Boston. 

An  unusually  successful  attempt  at  collaboration.  —  New 
York  Press. 

Fully  as  adventurous  as  anything  that  Kipling  has 
penned  from  the  same  field.  Full  of  action,  with  good, 
crisp  dialogue,  and  enlivened  by  the  touch  of  humor.  — 

Brooklyn  Eagle. 

It  maintains  a  strong  and  thrilling  interest  throughout 
its  scenes  of  love  and  warfare.  —  Chicago  Daily  News. 

A  good,  wholesome,  swift  moving  piece  of  work.  —  New 
York  Mail. 

There  is  a  love  scene  in  the  book  that  is  absolutely 
unique.  —  Boston  Budget. 


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